Édouard Manet Charles Baudelaire Paris, 1865 Etching Composed after a photograph by the French photographer Nadar, this etching captures the immediacy of the original photographic image. The short busy lines swirl across the paper to build up the likeness of the art critic and poet Charles Baudelaire. Nadar took a direct approach to his portraiture, … Read more
Honoré Daumier Embrassons Nous Paris, 1867 Lithograph 286 x 283 mm Daumier produced around 5,000 caricatures during his career, which spanned an intense period of political unrest in France. In 1867, in a bid to appear more liberal, Napoleon III lifted the censorship ban he had imposed 15 years earlier. This cartoon was published soon … Read more
Giovanni Battista Piranesi The Villa d’Este, Tivoli Rome, 1773 Etching This engraving is from a series entitled Views of Rome. In this etching, Piranesi depicted the impressive gardens of the Villa d’Este in Tivoli, originally built for Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este (1509-1572). The inclusion of tiny figures on the steps emphasises the scale of the … Read more
Albert Besnard Auguste Rodin Paris, 1900 Etching 32.5 x 26 cm This portrait of the renowned sculptor captures the intimacy of the friendship between the two artists. A skilled draughtsman with a keen eye for detail, Besnard is known for revealing a sitter’s personality in his portraits. Presented here against a blank background and in … Read more
Honoré Daumier Et pendant ce temps-là ils continuent à affirmer qu’elle ne s’est jamais mieux portée Paris, 1872 Lithograph 283 x 275 mm Daumier was a Republican, but there is no sense of triumph in this depiction of the Monarchy as a withered corpse in an open coffin. The Franco-Prussian War (1871-2) and resultant turmoil … Read more