An African Woman, after Eva Gonzalès

c. 1888

after Eva Gonzalès

(French, 1849–1883)

Culture

France, 19th century

Medium

zinc etching and aquatint

Measurements

Platemark: 26.8 x 28.6 cm (10 9/16 x 11 1/4 in.); Sheet: 46.7 x 34.3 cm (18 3/8 x 13 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Bernard Derroitte in honor of Margaret and Peter Dobbins 2020.241

Catalogue raisonné

Bertin 553

State

unknown (new II/IV, with earring, unrecorded in Bertin)

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

Guérard often used recycled metal for his printing plates. At lower right, this print features the embossed mark of a zinc manufacturer, which was included on a hammered-out watering can that the artist used for printing.

Description

Henri Guérard was well-known during his lifetime for his close association with the Impressionist circle and for working as a master printer for artists such as Edouard Manet. This print reinterprets a painting by Eva Gonzalès, Manet’s only formal pupil and Guérard’s spouse until her untimely death in 1883. Featuring a bust portrait of an African woman wearing a scarf and headwrap, the original painting, now lost, was probably made as a tribute to Manet, who had depicted the same subject around 1862.