George Grey Barnard, born Bellefonte, - (Untitled-Head, Two Women, studies) - ca. 1920s - T-Shirt

A pencil study sheet from the 1920s that assembles three related trials of the human head and figure on one cream page.

Visual Elements & Composition

Cream paper fills most of the sheet, with pencil grey as the only ink-like tone. A large head sits at left in profile, built from angular construction lines and light hatching, its brow, eye and heavy jaw set at sharp, faceted angles. At right, a small standing woman folds her arms across her body, her head turned to one side, drawn in simple continuous contours. A smaller head study sits at the lower right edge, and the torn upper right corner of the sheet adds an unfinished, working-paper quality. There is no lettering or numerals in the drawing itself.

Meaning & Symbolism

The sheet records a sculptor testing form before modelling. The large profile head is reduced to planes and guide lines, a clear focus on volume and structure rather than surface detail. The compact figure with folded arms reads as a quick note on pose and mass, and the repeated head shows the artist returning to how a face sits within its form. George Grey Barnard, the American sculptor, made many studies like this alongside his finished works. Sheets assembling several small trials on one page document the preparatory stage of his figurative sculpture in the 1920s, and show him moving between faceted analysis and naturalistic modelling.

On the T-Shirt

A study sheet is a page you read at close range, and a tee puts that scale on the chest, where the faceted profile and the small folded-arm figure can be taken in at a glance. The angular planes and open cream field give the print a quiet, uncluttered presence, so the drawing's sense of process comes through as you move.