Expressive Head (Translation)
Tête d'Expression (Primary Title)
André L'Hote, French, 1885 - 1962 (Artist)
Lhote had a long career as a painter, teacher, and writer on art. Though he was initially associated with Cubists, in 1918 he publicly called on his fellow artists to temper the difficulty and abstruseness of their art by returning to the lessonsof tradition.
Expressive Head reflects Lhote’s interest in blending Cubist abstraction with traditional genres. Despite the work’s stylization, the subject is legible and its forms have a sense of solidity. This work revives the tête d’expression, or expressive head, an important artistic tradition used to demonstrate proficiency in depicting facial expression. By the early 20th century, this phrase also implied that the entire composition, not just the look of the model’s face, creates a painting’s expressivity.
"Selections from the T. Catesby Jones Collection," Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, November 15 - December 29, 1974
"Modern French Painting," Norfolk Museum, March 1 - March 26, 1958; Mary Baldwin College, April 9 - April 19, 1958
Lynchburg Art Center, March 26 - April 16, 1954
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