Dying Woman (La Mourante)

Art Historical Context

**Dying Woman (Laante)**, created by French artist Albert Besnard in 1885, is a etching and roulette on w paper, measuring 17.9 x 24 cm on the plate. Besnard, a master printmaker of the late 19th, captures the vulnerability of mortality in this intimate work, now housed in the National Gallery of Art's Department of Prints (CG-E) as a generous gift from Mr. and Mrs Daniel Bell. The medium showcases Besnard's innovative technique: etching creates sharp, incised lines on a metal plate for intricate details, while roulette—a toothed wheel—adds soft, textured tones resembling velvet or smoke. This combination allows painterly effects on paper, bridging printmaking's precision with the emotional depth of painting. Wove paper, smooth and uniform, enhances the subtle gradations, making the image glow with quiet intensity. In the fin-de-siècle era, amid Symbolist explorations of life's transience, *La Mourante* reflects cultural preoccupations with death and human fragility. Besnard's evocative portrayal invites visitors to ponder life's fleeting beauty, a timeless reminder of art's power to console and provoke.

About the Artist

Albert Besnard · 1849–1934

Paul-Albert Besnard, known as Albert Besnard, was born on June 2, 1849, in Paris to an artistic family: his father, Louis Adolphe Ferdinand Besnard, was a history painter and pupil of Ingres, while his mother, Marie Louise Pauline Vaillant, was a noted miniaturist trained under Lizinska de Mirbel. Precociously talented, he began his training under Jean-François Brémond before entering the École de...