The Woman with the Rocking Chair

La Femme au Rocking-Chair (original French title)

Color aquatint, soft-ground, and etching on laid paper, 1900.

Reference: Cate & Grivel 101, From Pissarro to Picasso.

Trial proof, before the edition of 25. Extremely scarce, and obviously unique as such.

What more could you want from a Belle Epoque print? This color etching, rich of a technical tradition initiated just 10 years prior by the American woman artist Mary Cassatt, embodies the era. An elegant woman with coiffed hair rests at the seaside in her picket-fenced garden. She sways in her rocking chair, named in the title, an ode to French admiration for Anglo-Saxon culture. Her movement is echoed in that of the sailboat in the background. Rich but subtle colors suggest fall, with red leaves, and the need to cover up with a shawl and a plaid blanket to stay warm. The peaceful ambiance is absolute. In the words of Charles Beaudelaire, Luxe, calme et volupté.

Signed and annotated “essai no 1 épreuve unique” in ink. Also bearing the artist’s monogram stamp (Lugt 3276).

Printed on a small sheet, with small margins (original, not trimmed). A short tear mended tear in the bottom margin, at the center. A magnificent impression of this scarce and beautiful color etching; one of the artist’s best.

SOLD