Head of a Woman

Art Historical Context

This intimate drypoint print, created by Dr. Paul Gachet between roughly 1859 and 1889, captures the quiet presence of a woman’s head with delicate, expressive lines. As a physician with artistic interests, Gachet worked in a period when printmaking flourished as both an accessible art form and a means of personal exploration. The small plate size—just over four by three and a half inches—invites close viewing, encouraging the viewer to appreciate the subtle textures and tonal variations achieved through the drypoint process. Drypoint involves scratching directly into a metal plate with a sha...