Demain sera beau, disait le naufrage
1922
Medium
aquatint, roulette, and drypoint over heliogravure
Classification
Portfolio
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1950.1.152
Art Historical Context
Georges Rouault's *Demain sera beau, disait le naufrage* (2), translating to "Tomorrow will be, said the shipwreck captures the artist's poignant blend of irony and pathos. A leading figure in early 20th-century French Expressionism, Rouault from Fauvism's colors and forms but infused his work with a mystical, religious intensity, often evoking stained-glass windows through heavy black outlines and vivid contrasts. Created amid Europe's post-World War I recovery, this print reflects the era's lingering despair, using the shipwreck metaphor to question hollow optimism in the face of human trage...
About the Artist
Georges Rouault
Georges-Henri Rouault was born on May 27, 1871, in a Paris cellar during the violent "Bloody Week" of the Paris Commune, when a stray shell destroyed his family's home in the working-class Belleville district. Raised by a carpenter father who worked at the Pleyel piano factory and a grandfather who collected prints by Honoré Daumier, Rembrandt, Courbet, and Manet, Rouault showed early artistic pro...