Woman Facing Left
Henri Boutet (1851-1919), Woman Facing Left, drypoint, c. 1895, signed in pencil lower right and inscribed 1re etat (first state). Reference: Henri Beraldi, Les Gravures du XIX Siecle, Vol. 2, p. 176. In excellent condition, printed on a wove paper with full margins, 8 1/4 x 6 1/8, the sheet 11 1/2 x 8 3/4 inches, archival matting.
With the red Boutet stamp (Lugt Supp. 1295a).
A fine impression, with much burr from the drypoint work, and a veil of plate tone around the head of the woman.
Boutet was one of the most talented of the Belle Epoque artists. He made a number of small drypoint portraits of women in tiny editions (20 or so), of which this example is a first state proof. These prints, carefully printed, wiped and signed, are rather rarely encountered today, although reproductions of Boutet’s work are quite common. He became popular as an illustrator for magazines such as the Paris-Croquis and Le Courrier Francais, and later founded publications including La Revue Artistique. He was well known at the turn of the century as “le Petit maître au corset” – the small master of the corset.