Study of a man's head

Study of a Man's Head, painted around 1840-1841 and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, reveals Etty's serious engagement with portraiture and character study alongside his more famous nude paintings. Throughout his career Etty was a tireless life-class attendee, drawing and painting from the model at the Royal Academy well into his fifties — a dedication that astonished and sometimes amused his younger contemporaries. These head studies demonstrate the close observation and rich handling of paint that Etty developed through decades of life-class practice. The warm flesh tones and confident brushwork reflect the Venetian coloristic tradition that Etty championed in British painting throughout his career.

The oil study is painted with bold, direct brushwork and warm, naturalistic flesh tones. Etty's command of color modeling is evident in the varied tones that build up the face, from warm highlights to cool shadows. The loose, spontaneous handling suggests rapid execution from a live model.