Eve
1896
Medium
Etching and drypoint in bistre ink on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 17 × 12.3 cm (6 3/4 × 4 7/8 in.); Plate: 18 × 13 cm (7 1/8 × 5 1/8 in.); Sheet: 28.6 × 22 cm (11 5/16 × 8 11/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
71905
Art Historical Context
**Eve** by Albert Besnard (1849–1934), in 1896, is a masterful print from the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and collection. This intimate etching and drypoint in bistre ink— a warm, earthy brown—graces ivory laid paper, with the image measuring just 17 × 12.3 cm. Besnard, a leading French artist of the fin-de-siècle, was renowned for his technical prowess in printmaking, blending the precision of etching (lines incised by acid on a metal plate) with the soft, velvety texture of drypoint (direct needle scratches that raise a burr for rich tonal depth). The modest scale invites close contemp...
About the Artist
Albert Besnard
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...