An African Woman, after Eva Gonzalès (c. 1888): Art, History and Details

An African Woman, after Eva Gonzalès (c. 1888) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Henri Charles Guérard (French, 1846–1897); Eva Gonzalès (French, 1849–1883).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Henri Guérard was well-known during his lifetime for his close association with the Impressionist circle and for working as a master printer for artists such as Edouard Manet. This print reinterprets a painting by Eva Gonzalès, Manet’s only formal pupil and Guérard’s spouse until her untimely death in 1883. Featuring a bust portrait of an African woman wearing a scarf and headwrap, the original painting, now lost, was probably made as a tribute to Manet, who had depicted the same subject around 1862.

Object facts

• Title: An African Woman, after Eva Gonzalès
• Date: c. 1888
• Creator attribution: Henri Charles Guérard (French, 1846–1897); Eva Gonzalès (French, 1849–1883)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: zinc etching and aquatint
• Dimensions: Platemark: 26.8 x 28.6 cm (10 9/16 x 11 1/4 in.); Sheet: 46.7 x 34.3 cm (18 3/8 x 13 1/2 in.)
• Collection: PR - Etching
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 2020.241

A detail from the museum

Guérard often used recycled metal for his printing plates. At lower right, this print features the embossed mark of a zinc manufacturer, which was included on a hammered-out watering can that the artist used for printing.

Collection credit

Gift of Bernard Derroitte in honor of Margaret and Peter Dobbins

Further reading listed by the museum

• Bertin, Claudie. “Henri Guérard (1846-1897): l’œuvre gravé.” PhD diss. Paris: École du Louvre, 1975.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.