Sappho (1895): Art, History and Details

Sappho (1895) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Maurice Dumont (French, 1870–1899).

The work and its context

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

Dumont was an innovative printmaker who experimented with a variety of printmaking processes. Sappho-which depicts the ancient Greek poetess with a lyre in a grove of birch trees-appeared in Pan, an artistic journal, accompanied by an article about the gypsograph technique (see glossary). Dumont made several versions of Sappho, which is not surprising since he also wrote poetry.

Object facts

• Title: Sappho
• Date: 1895
• Creator attribution: Maurice Dumont (French, 1870–1899)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: gypsograph
• Dimensions: Sheet: 27.6 x 36.6 cm (10 7/8 x 14 7/16 in.); Image: 12 x 19.1 cm (4 3/4 x 7 1/2 in.)
• Collection: PR - Gypsograph
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1991.153

A detail from the museum

Maurice Dumont was one of the most prolific practitioners of gypsography, a printmaking technique that resulted in an embossed impression.

Collection credit

Gift of Friends of the Department of Prints and Drawings

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.