Head of a Peasant c. 1882 - 1883

Editor: This is "Head of a Peasant" by Lesser Ury, its date is unknown. The charcoal rendering gives it a very raw, immediate feel. What can you tell me about Ury's approach here? Curator: Look at the paper itself. Ury's quick strokes, the visible smudging, emphasize the labor of creation. How might the mass production of paper, and charcoal as a readily available medium, have influenced his choice to depict a peasant subject? Editor: So, the very materials speak to the accessibility and perhaps the value Ury placed on representing working-class individuals? Curator: Precisely. It asks us to consider who has historically been represented in art, and by what means. What does it mean to depict a peasant’s head with materials common to the everyman? Editor: That gives me a completely new way to consider portraiture. I hadn't thought about the materials and production this way.