Portrait of Comte Lepic

Marcellin Desboutin French
Sitter Ludovic Lepic French

Not on view

Desboutin and Ludovic Lepic met as mutual friends of Edgar Degas, who painted a double portrait of the two printmakers in 1876 (Musée d'Orsay). In this frank portrait from the same year, Lepic sits casually beside an easel. On the wall behind him is a drawing of Crouton, a water spaniel he gifted to Desboutin. In preparing this work, Desboutin developed it through seven states, creating many permutations of the composition in a manner similar to Lepic’s concept of "mobile etching," in which, by varying elements on the matrix, every impression was unique.

Portrait of Comte Lepic, Marcellin Desboutin (French, Cérilly 1823–1902 Nice), Drypoint; sixth state of seven

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