Head of a Bearded Man, Leaning Back, 1768
Jean-Baptiste Le Princeexpand_more
Etching and aquatint in brown inkexpand_more
Gift of Herschel V. Jones, by exchangeexpand_more P.85.35.96
Not on Viewexpand_more
This album of prints, comprising 137 etchings and aquatints by Jean-Baptiste Le Prince looks just like an album of drawings. Le Prince’s aquatint technique was unrivaled in his day. To mimic wash drawing so convincingly, he used a very fine aquatint dust grain and found a unique way of applying it to the copper plate to maximize his range of tone. After etching the composition, he applied a second ground to the copper plate. Then as though applying wash, he brushed on a special solvent—made of olive oil, turpentine, and lampblack ink—to the areas he wanted tone, exposing those passages of the plate. Next he would apply a sugar solution to the bare areas. When he applied the powdered resin and heated the plate, the resin would fuse to the sugared areas, creating a porous surface.
Details
- Title
- Head of a Bearded Man, Leaning Back
- Artist Life
- 1734 - 1781
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- P.85.35.96
- Catalogue Raisonne
- H. 108 ii/iii
- Curator Approved
This record is from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator, so may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
Does something look wrong with this image? Let us know
Zoom in on the left to the detail you'd like to save. Click 'Save detail' and wait until the image updates. Right click the image to 'save image as' or copy link, or click the image to open in a new tab.