The Assault of the Shoe
Medium
Etching, with open bite, in light red on cream wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 11 × 21 cm (4 3/8 × 8 5/16 in.); Plate: 16.6 × 25.2 cm (6 9/16 × 9 15/16 in.); Sheet: 34.4 × 49.2 cm (13 9/16 × 19 3/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
199802
Art Historical Context
Henri Charles Guérard’s *The Assault of the Shoe* (1888) is a delightful etching that captures the playful spirit of late 19th-century French printmaking. Created during a revival of etching as an expressive medium among avant-garde artists in Paris, this work showcases Guérard’s mastery of the technique. The artist, a close associate of Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt, favored etching for its ability to blend precision with painterly freedom, producing intimate, tonal images that rivaled paintings in depth. Guérard employed an innovative “open bite” method, where acid selectively corrodes the m...