An African Woman, after Eva Gonzalès

c. 1888

after Eva Gonzalès

(French, 1849–1883)

France, 19th century

zinc etching and aquatint

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.)

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)

Location: not on view

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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.