Les Honnêtes femmes; Conférence, Poésies inédites d'Henry Becque; La Parisienne
Medium
halftone on wove paper
Dimensions
sheet (program closed): 32.7 x 25 cm (12 7/8 x 9 13/16 in.) sheet (program opened): 32.7 x 50.1 cm (12 7/8 x 19 3/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of The Atlas Foundation
Accession Number
1995.76.8
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant theater world of Belle Époque Paris with this 1904 halftone print after Albert Besnard, a masterful French artist known for his Symbolist and Art Nouveau influences. Titled *Les Honnêtes femmes; Conférence, Poés inédites d'Hen Becque; La Parisienne*, it served as a folding program for performances blending drama, poetry, and Parisian flair. Besnard's original design captures the elegance of the era, reproduced here on wove paper in crisp halftone—a photomechanical technique that democratized high art for mass printing, making sophisticated imagery accessible to theatergoe...