Head of a Young Woman Asleep

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Framed drawings came into vogue in 18th-century France during the Regency era of interior decoration. Their popularity spawned innovations in printmaking, unrivaled in technical sophistication, to create both original and reproductive prints that looked like drawings and satisfied the needs of the market. Roulettes and mattoirs, handheld tools with a cluster of fine-toothed ends, were devised to punch notches in metal plates so that, when inked and printed, the marks imitated the look of crumbly chalk on textured paper. Here, Jean-Baptiste Lucien used a red-brown ink to closely resemble the sanguine crayon used by Jean-Baptiste Greuze.

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