Details
CAMILLE PISSARRO (1830-1903)
Baigneuse
monotype, on laid paper, circa 1895, initialed in ink, with margins, framed
Image: 7 x 518 in. (178 x 130 mm.)
Sheet: 814 x 612 in. (210 x 165 mm.)
Provenance
Ambroise Vollard, Paris.
Henri M. Petiet, Paris (acquired from the estate of the above).
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Lot Essay

Pissarro referred to his monotypes as 'dessins imprimés', or printed drawings. He likley learned the technique from Degas, who similarly reveled in the experimentation and freedom the monotype technique allows. With monotypes, the artist inks directly onto the matrix and then presses it down on paper for as long as the ink remains wet, each plate typically yields one monotype.
With broad brushstrokes and deliberate handling, Pissarro depicted a nude bather on a hillside. Her body is delineated by broken contour lines drawn with a pointed brush, and Pissarro brushed and wiped the ink in varying directions to suggest grass. The tipped-up landscape and pronounced hillside is echoed in the woman's sloped posture. Although Pissarro is known for his depictions of women at work, he did, on occasion, depict peasant women resting from their labors on a grassy hillside.

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A Graphic Century including French Impressions: Prints from Ambroise Vollard and Henri M. Petiet
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