“Head of a Man” is a pencil on paper sketch by Vincent van Gogh, created in 1885 in Nuenen, Netherlands. This artwork falls under the Realism movement, specifically characterized as a sketch and study. The piece is part of the collection at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The artwork features a profile view of a man’s head, depicted with an economy of lines yet clear attention to detail and form. Van Gogh’s use of shading and hatching with pencil strokes adds depth and texture to the image. The man’s facial features are sharply defined, with the eye, nose, and mouth carefully delineated. The strokes are expressive, suggesting movement and tension in the subject’s hair and clothing. The sketch seems to capture a sense of the man’s character and emotion, which aligns with the Realist movement’s focus on depicting subjects truthfully without idealization.
