Edmund Kean in the Character of Macbeth

Edmund Kean in the Character of Macbeth

George Henry Harlow

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Edmund Kean entranced Londoners in 1814 with tragic Shakespearean roles performed at the Drury Lane Theatre, and here appears as Macbeth contemplating regicide. An ability to convey nuanced emotions distinguished Kean from John Philip Kemble's broader acting style at the rival Covent Garden Theatre. In this drawing Harlow used delicate colored chalks for the face, and broader strokes to indicate the costume, a technique influenced by Thomas Lawrence.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Edmund Kean in the Character of MacbethEdmund Kean in the Character of MacbethEdmund Kean in the Character of MacbethEdmund Kean in the Character of MacbethEdmund Kean in the Character of Macbeth

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.