Norbert Goeneutte, Marguerite Gachet in Lantern Light (Marguerite Gachet à la lanterne), 1891

Drypoint

During the etching revival of the mid-ninteenth century and the fin-de-siècle, the technique of drypoint was often used alongside traditional etching.

Unlike etching, drypoint does not require the use of an acid-resistant ground. Rather, a special diamond tip needle is used to draw directly on the plate, pushing up the copper on either side to create a distinctive ridge or “burr” that holds the ink during the printing process.

The result is a rich black tone and a soft, velvety surface perfect for depicting the darker themes of the Parisian print world.

Moods in drypoint

In his print series, La Femme, Albert Besnard combined etching and drypoint to explore the bleaker aspects of feminine existence.

A gruesome assemblage of social ills, many of the prints feature graphic depictions of a woman plagued by sickness, suicide, prostitution, infanticide and poverty.

Besnard’s masterful application of drypoint produced compositions evocative of her disturbed moods.

Albert Besnard, Flirtation (Le flirt), 1887 — Albert Besnard, *Flirtation (Le flirt)*, 1887

Henri Evenepoel, Absinthe-Drinker (La buveuse d’absinthe), 1899 — Henri Evenepoel, *Absinthe-Drinker (La buveuse d’absinthe)*, 1899

Creatures of shadow

In the nineteenth century, French printmakers were very interested in the quality of darkness, depicting it both visually and iconographically. Vampires, skeletons, ghosts, and other demons lurked in the shadowy corners of the fin-de-siècle imagination.

Symbolist artists often incorporated drypoint to represent such creatures in their quirky prints.

Odilon Redon, Cain and Abel (Caïn et Abel), 1886 — Odilon Redon, *Cain and Abel (Caïn et Abel)*, 1886

Drypoint

Moods in drypoint

Creatures of shadow

Further reading