Created in 1873, this original Paul Cézanne Tête de Femme (Head of a Woman), 1873 etching is from the 1914 edition. The work is signed and dated '73 | P Cezanne' in the lower right corner of the plate.

Displaying Cézanne's unique and forceful style, this etching offers a delightful example of the artist's work. As one of the great precursors to the modernist movement, Cezanne never truly considered himself to belong to any one particular nineteenth century art movement. With this particular piece a feeling of energy is captured in the artist's working of the plate. However, a sense of sentimentality is also reveled in the artist's handling of the figure's eyes and delicate facial features. Through the manipulation of ink, the artist captures a transitory moment, in which it appears that the sun is passing over the young girls face just as she meets the viewer's gaze. According M. Melot (1994), this work is "the most elaborate of Cézanne's etchings…with the shadow in the background worked over with a roulette. Whereas [his] landscapes are presented without any reworking, this simple, regular face, seen in close up and head on against quite a strong back light with its attendant shadows, has been made more dramatic: the hair is a tangle of lines, there are acid spots everywhere and the eyes are black dots" (105).

Documented and Illustrated in:

1. Cherpin, Jean, L'Oeuvre Gravé de Cézanne, 1972, listed as cat no 4, image opposite title page, discussion on pages 66-67.
2. Melot, M. (1994). The Impressionist Print. Yale University Press: New Haven. Listed and illustrated on pg. 105 as fig. 110.
3. Venturi, L. (1989). Cézanne Son Art - Son Oeuvre: Catalogue Raisonné, Volumes I & II. Listed and illustrated in Volumes I & II as catalogue raisonné no. 1160.

About the Framing:

Paul Cézanne Tête de Femme (Head of a Woman), 1873 is museum grade conservation framed in a complementary moulding with silk mats and optical grade Plexiglas.