Portrait of Stéphane Mallarmé - Paul Gauguin

Albert H. Wolf Memorial Collection

"Portrait of Stéphane Mallarmé" by Paul Gauguin (1891, printed 1919) Etching, drypoint and engraving in brown-black on cream Japanese laid paper.

Commentary

"Portrait of Stéphane Mallarmé" by Paul Gauguin (1891, printed 1919) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. The print-based method rewards close viewing, where line, texture, and contrast do most of the expressive work. Themes to notice include etching. This piece is held in the source collection's Prints and Drawings collection. Paul Gauguin is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: Paul Gauguin French, 1848-1903. The work is cataloged within a France cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as etching, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Etching, drypoint and engraving in brown-black on cream Japanese laid paper) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (Plate: 18.3 × 14.5 cm (7 1/4 × 5 3/4 in.); Sheet: 33 × 24 cm (13 × 9 1/2 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include etching. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/21078

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data