Albert Besnard and His Model
1896
Medium
Etching on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 22.5 × 15 cm (8 7/8 × 5 15/16 in.); Plate: 23.4 × 15.2 cm (9 1/4 × 6 in.); Sheet: 42.5 × 34.9 cm (16 3/4 × 13 3/4 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
41735
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
Anders Zorn’s 1896 etching *Albert Besnard and His Model* captures a quiet, intimate moment between the French painter Albert Besnard and the woman who posed for him. Created when Zorn was at the height of his international fame, the print reflects the close artistic circles of late-nineteenth-century Paris, where painters frequently portrayed one another at work. The compact plate size—roughly nine by six inches—invites viewers to lean in, mirroring the concentrated exchange between artist and model. Zorn was celebrated for his technical brilliance in etching, using swift, economical lines to suggest light, texture, and atmosphere without heavy shading. Printed on ivory laid paper, the image glows with subtle tonal contrasts that evoke the immediacy of a sketch while remaining a finished work of art. This mastery helped elevate etching from a reproductive medium to a respected fine-art form during the 1890s. Today the print resides in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Department of Prints and Drawings, where it offers visitors a glimpse into the collaborative studio life of the period and Zorn’s enduring ability to distill human presence into a few eloquent lines.
About the Artist
Anders Zorn · 1860–1920
Anders Zorn (1860–1920), one of Sweden's most celebrated artists, was born on February 18 in Utmeland near Mora in Dalarna, and raised on his maternal grandparents' farm in the nearby hamlet of Yvraden. Displaying prodigious talent from a young age, he attended school in Mora Strand until age twelve, followed by secondary grammar school in Enköping, where he excelled in drawing people and horses. ...