The artwork entitled “Head of a Woman” is a chalk portrait on paper, created by Vincent van Gogh in 1884 in Nuenen, Netherlands. It belongs to the Realism art movement and is currently housed at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The artwork presents a side profile of a woman, skillfully rendered with precise linearity and shading typical to van Gogh’s early sketching style. The woman is depicted wearing a headscarf and a cloak, her facial expression conveying a contemplative and pensive demeanor. The use of chalk allows for a detailed texture and the ability to convey light and shadow effectively, emphasizing the contours of her face and the garment she is wearing. The portrait exudes a raw honesty, underlined by van Gogh’s characteristic commitment to realism and his profound ability to capture human emotion through minimalist means.
