Nude Girl Combing Her Hair

Art Historical Context

In the intimate etching *Nude Girl Combing Hair* (1887), French artist Albert Besnard captures a moment of quiet domesticity and vulnerability. Created on wove paper with precise dimensions—plate measuring 18 x 12.5 cm—this print exemplifies Besnard's late 19th-century mastery of printmaking during France's fin-de-siècle era, a time when artists explored the nude form to blend classical beauty with modern sensibility. Besnard's innovative use of etching combined with roulette—a toothed wheel tool that imprints fine, textured lines—produces velvety tones and soft modeling, mimicking the fluid brushwork of oil painting. This technique allowed for rich tonal gradations on the modest sheet (31.8 x 24.2 cm), elevating the print from mere reproduction to a painterly work of art. As a leading figure in French Symbolism and decorative arts, Besnard infused the scene with subtle eroticism and psychological depth, reflecting the era's fascination with personal rituals amid rapid social change. Today, this gem from the National Gallery of Art's Prints department—generously gifted by Frank Anderson Trapp—invites visitors to appreciate how Besnard transformed everyday intimacy into enduring elegance, bridging intimate portraiture and fine art print traditions.

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...