Madeleine Lemaire
1900
Medium
etching and printed tone on laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 17.7 x 23.1 cm (6 15/16 x 9 1/8 in.) sheet: 34.4 x 50 cm (13 9/16 x 19 11/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Bell, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art
Accession Number
1992.59.24
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 incis...
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...