The Terrace of the Villa Brancas

1876

Félix Bracquemond

(French, 1833–1914)

Culture

France, 19th century

Medium

etching

Support

Laid paper

Measurements

Sheet: 29.8 x 42.3 cm (11 3/4 x 16 5/8 in.); Platemark: 25.4 x 35.4 cm (10 x 13 15/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of John Bonebrake 2005.240

Catalogue raisonné

Béraldi III.80.215

State

VIII/VIII

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Location

Not on view

Description

Here, two women are seated on a sunny terrace in the lush landscape at Sèvres. One figure, presumably Bracquemond's wife, Marie, who was also an artist, draws the other, who is posed with an umbrella. The old porcelain manufactory and part of Bellevue is visible among the trees. The artist is alert and active, a pencil poised in her right hand, while the subject of her portrait demurely casts her gaze downward. Here, the 19th-century woman is depicted both in the midst of creating a work of art, and as the passive subject of one.