Study of a Woman Viewed from Behind

Description

A reclining woman viewed from behind appears in Eugène Delacroix’s etching, with dense hatching giving the body and its surrounding forms a closely worked presence. The viewpoint directs attention away from a frontal face and toward another way of encountering the figure. A familiar human subject gains interest through bearing, contour and the material activity of the printed line.

Made in 1833, the etching was printed on chine collé. Delacroix gives a study of a figure a distinct printed material form, preserving an act of looking rather than recounting a story. Its appeal lies in the significance granted to viewpoint. Seen from behind, the woman remains the image’s human center while the absence of a frontal face asks the eye to find character through the body’s bearing and the shapes of clothing.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Eugène Delacroix collection.