The Evening Lamp
Weir admired the expressive potential of etching long before he attempted the technique: like his father before him, Weir collected old master prints, and particularly admired those of Rembrandt. Weir may well have had the Dutch artist's dark tonalities in mind when he etched this view of a woman reading by the lamplight, a cat outstretched at her feet. The compelling effects were hard-won: the artist recorded that "working by night" on this etching "injured my eyes."
Artwork Details
- Title: The Evening Lamp
- Artist: Julian Alden Weir (American, West Point, New York 1852–1919 New York)
- Date: ca. 1890
- Medium: Etching and drypoint; fourth state of five
- Dimensions: plate: 6 1/4 x 4 5/8 in. (15.8 x 11.7 cm)
sheet: 7 1/4 x 5 1/2 in. (18.3 x 14 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1918
- Object Number: 18.59.16
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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