Frontispiece for "Les Fleurs du Mal"
Medium
Etching, drypoint; second state of two
Dimensions
Sheet: 10 3/8 × 7 1/16 in. (26.4 × 18 cm) Plate: 6 3/4 × 4 1/4 in. (17.1 × 10.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1962
Accession Number
62.650.148
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold the haunting *Frontispiece for "Les Fleurs du"*, an 1857 and drypoint by Bracquemond, to introduce Charles Baudelaire's groundbreaking poetry collection. This second state of two captures the essence of Baudelaire's—beauty intertwined with decay—through motifs of delicate flowers and ominous skeletons, evoking the macabre allure of 19th-century Symbolism and Decadence. Published amid scandal, *Les Fleurs du Mal was condemned for its sensual and morbid explorations, making this frontispiece a bold visual manifesto for the era's avant-garde spirit. Bracquemond, a master etcher and early ...
About the Artist
Félix Bracquemond|Charles Baudelaire · 1833–1914
French, Paris 1833–1914 Sèvres