Head of a Young Girl

Head of a Young Girl is a rare intimate portrait study in Seurat's oeuvre, which is dominated by figure compositions, landscapes, and harbour subjects rather than portraiture. The work may be related to a specific model he used in a larger composition, or represent a standalone study in applying his divisionist method to a close-up human face — technically one of the most demanding tests for the dot technique, which risks reducing flesh to an impersonal stippled surface. The few portrait studies Seurat produced in the mid-to-late 1880s reveal his continued ability to work at intimate scale.

The face is modelled through Seurat's characteristic dot application, with warm and cool colour touches building volume in the cheeks, brow, and chin. Shadows are rendered through complementary colour additions rather than admixture of black.