The Flirt (Le flirt)
c. 1886
Medium
etching on Van Gelder laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 31.8 × 24.5 cm (12 1/2 × 9 5/8 in.) sheet: 47.6 × 32.4 cm (18 3/4 × 12 3/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.1473
Art Historical Context
### The Flirt (Le flirtStep into the playful world of Albert Besnard's *The Flirt (Le flirt)*, an etching created around 1886. This intimate print, measuring 31.8 × 24.5 cm on the plate, captures moment of coquettish charm on high-quality Van Gelder laid—a Dutch handmade sheet prized by 19th-century printmakers its subtle texture and ability to hold fine ink details. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's esteemed Rosenwald Collection, it exemplifies the era's fascination with everyday elegance and human emotion. Besnard (1849–1934), a leading French artist, blended academic precision with a...
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...