Study from the Nude, Woman Asleep
1890–94
Medium
Transfer lithograph in black on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 16.7 × 24 cm (6 5/8 × 9 1/2 in.); Sheet: 20.5 × 32.4 cm (8 1/8 × 12 13/16 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
211083
Art Historical Context
In the hushed intimacy of Theodore Roussel's *Study from the Nude Woman Asleep* (0–94), we encounter a masterful transfer lithograph that captures the serene vulnerability of the female form. Created during the artist's mature period in London, this black-ink work on cream laid paper measures a modest 16.7 × 24 cm, inviting close contemplation. Roussel, an Anglo-French printmaker influenced by James McNeill Whistler and the Aesthetic movement favored such delicate studies to explore light, shadow, and texture with poetic restraint. Transfer lithography, Roussel's chosen technique here, involv...
About the Artist
Theodore Roussel · 1847–1926
Theodore Casimir Roussel was born on 23 March 1847 in Lorient, Brittany, France, into a naval family. After serving in the Franco-Prussian War, he began painting in 1872 as an entirely self-taught artist, initially rendering scenes of daily life in the meticulous style of the Old Masters. In 1878, he settled permanently in London, where he immersed himself in the vibrant British art scene. There, ...