Model standing
June 1902
Medium
Soft ground etching, aquatint and drypoint from a zinc plate in bistre (brown) on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 39.5 × 14.8 cm (15 9/16 × 5 7/8 in.); Sheet: 45.2 × 33.1 cm (17 13/16 × 13 1/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
49888
Art Historical Context
Théophile-Alexandrelen, a Swiss-born who thrived in fin-de-siècle Paris, captured the human form with empathy and realism in *Model Standing* (June 1902). Renowned for his posters, illustrations, and prints depicting Parisian working-class life, Steinlen here presents a poised female figure, likely a life-study model, rendered in a soft ground etching, aquatint, andpoint on a zinc plate. Printed in warm bistre ink on ivoryove paper (39.5 × 14.8 cm image), this intimate work reflects his mastery of mixed techniques during the Belle Époque, a time when printmaking bridged fine art and mass media...
About the Artist
Théophile-Alexandre Pierre Steinlen · 1859–1923
Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, born on November 10, 1859, in Lausanne, Switzerland, grew up in an environment steeped in artistic influence, with his grandfather serving as a drawing teacher in nearby Vevey. He studied literature at the University of Lausanne before working as a designer trainee in a Mulhouse textile mill. In his early twenties, around 1881, Steinlen married Émilie Mey, and the cou...