Intimacy
1889
Medium
Etching on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 18 × 23.7 cm (7 1/8 × 9 3/8 in.); Sheet: 20.7 × 26.5 cm (8 3/16 × 10 7/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
42696
Art Historical Context
**Intimacy** (1889) by Albertnard is a delicate etching on cream laid paper measuring 18 × 23.7 cm for the image and plate, housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints Drawings Department. Created during the vibrant fin-de-siècle period in France, this work exemplifies Besnard's mastery as a printmaker, blending the precision of line with painterly softness. Besnard (1849–1934), a leading figure in French art, was renowned for his Symbolist leanings and innovative etchings that evoked emotion and intimacy, reflecting the era's fascination with personal and psychological depth amid rapid so...
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...