Armand Berton
French, 1854 - 1927Head of a Girl, n.d.
Not on view
Pastel on paper
Dimensions15 7/8 × 13 × 2 in. (40.3 × 33 × 5.1 cm)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Ryerson, 1939.10
While studying at the École des Beaux Arts, Armand Berton lost his hearing and was unable to finish his courses. However, he continued to perfect his talent by studying the great masters at the Louvre. Berton started exhibiting landscapes in 1875, but concentrated on portraiture in the following years. He often drew themes from literary sources. By doing so he aligned himself with the Symbolist movement—a group united by their common interest in dreams, states of mind, and the conscious use of literary references.
Head of a Girl achieves a sense of tranquility and distance through both the pose and a delicate handling of color, perhaps alluding to the privacy of one’s inner thoughts. Her identity is unknown but the soft, almost romantic depiction of femininity expresses a sentimental attitude common at the end of the nineteenth century.
