Black and White Dog, Head Turned to the Left

Black and White Dog, Head Turned to the Left

Jean-Baptiste Huet I

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A distinguished animal painter, Huet here reveals the lightness of his touch as a draftsman. After sketching in the outlines of this small dog in black chalk, he used white to suggest the texture of fur and red to define the sensitive ares of ears, eye and nose. The animal is caught in midstride with its front leg raised, with the ground indicated only by a slight shadow. The signature and late date indicate that he drawing is an autograph copy of an earlier work made about 1765.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Black and White Dog, Head Turned to the LeftBlack and White Dog, Head Turned to the LeftBlack and White Dog, Head Turned to the LeftBlack and White Dog, Head Turned to the LeftBlack and White Dog, Head Turned to the Left

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.