Woman in a Biergarten, Munich

Color aquatint and drypoint on simili-Japan wove paper, 1913.
No stated edition, but likely one of just a handful of impressions. All prints by this famous artist are scarce.

This elegant Bavarian sitter turns to the artist and thus to us, as if she had been called for a quick photographic snapshot. The spontaneity of her pose, as well as the tightly cropped composition, make this print into something very modern. While the linework and color remind us of Mary Cassatt’s Japanese-influenced prints, this is something entirely edgier than what would have been created 20 years earlier during the Belle Epoque era. This lady is very likely in good company. Four beer steins are lined up on the table in front of her. The tree in the background is verdant. She’s wearing her extravagant plumed hat. It’s going to be a lovely afternoon. It might even be Oktoberfest.

Signed, annotated “München”, and dated in pencil.