The Coiffure of Jean-Baptiste Greuze

This essay seeks to understand the significance of Jean-Baptiste Greuze's unusual hairdo, which was a topic of discussion in several accounts as well as obsessively illustrated in several images of the artist, by himself as well as others. By surveying the visual and verbal evidence of Greuze's coiffure, the author seeks to understand the construction of identities made possible by his unusual hairstyle. The article posits Greuze's apparent desire to use the coiffure to refer to a classical persona who exists outside of normal time, as well as an inspired creator. The most extensive account of the artist's coiffure, a reference to it in Charles Dufresne's Cahiers, refers to the origin of the hairstyle in terms of its significance to the artist's creative and social identities. Further, the art of hairstyling holds special significance as a symbol of artistic creativity in a larger sense.