|
La toilette - woman washing herself
1862
Artist
Edouard Manet (1832 - 1883)
Etcher
Edouard Manet (1832 - 1883)
Etching
Height: 28.4 cm; Width: 22.4 cm;
Inscription
Signed with initial, lower right and recto, M
Acquisition (source, method, date)
Courtauld, Samuel; gift; 1935
G.1935.SC.188
About this work
Manet’s life model for this print was most probably his companion Suzanne Leenhoff. The compositional treatment was largely inspired by Old Master paintings and prints, particularly those by Rembrandt and Rubens depicting the biblical story of Bathsheba. Manet’s exceptionally bold etching technique and his emphatic contrasts of light and shade have a startling effect. Wiped clean of ink, the light female form appears to loom out from the dark background, formed by a web of cross-hatched lines deeply ‘bitten’ by the acid.
(Permanent collection label)
Copyright: © The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London
|
