Head of a Woman 1919

This off-white plaster sculpture, Head of a Woman, was made by the Spanish artist Manolo, sometime around the early 20th century. I’m thinking about Manolo in his studio, building up this head, bit by bit. Look at the rough texture of the plaster, how it catches the light. It gives the sculpture an unfinished quality, as though we’re seeing it in the process of becoming. You can almost feel his hands at work, adding and subtracting material, shaping the features. There’s something so intimate and vulnerable about this face. Her eyes are heavy-lidded, her expression almost melancholic. What was Manolo trying to capture here? Was it a specific person, or an idea? The way he has worked the plaster has echoes of Rodin, of the way his rough surfaces hint at inner emotion. I love how Manolo’s sculpture invites questions, rather than providing easy answers.