Madeleine Lemaire

Art Historical Context

Albert Besnard's *Madeleine Lemaire (1900) is a refined portrait etching honoring the French painter and illustrator Madeleine Lemaire, a figure in Belle Époque known for her delicate floral works and literary illustrations. Created at the turn of the century, during the lavish 1900 Exposition Universelle, the print embodies the era's blend of elegance and artistic innovation, showcasing Besnard's as a leading French printmaker and painter associated with Symbolism. The medium—etching combined with printed tone on laid—allows Besnard to achieve remarkable depth and luminosity. Etching's incised lines provide crisp detail, while the printed tone (likely aquatint-like effects) introduces soft, painterly gradations, mimicking the richness of oil painting in a intimate 17.7 x 23.1 cm plate. This technique highlights Besnard's experimental approach to printmaking, bridging traditional intaglio with modern tonal subtlety. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's prints collection (gift of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Bell for the museum's 50th anniversary), this work invites visitors to appreciate the personal connections among fin-de-siècle artists, preserving a moment of cultural grace on textured laid paper that whispers of artisanal heritage.

About the Artist

Albert Besnard · 1849–1934

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...