An African Woman, after Eva Gonzalès

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

Henri Guérard was well-known during his lifetime for his close association with the Impressionist circle and for working as a master printer for artists such as Edouard Manet. This print reinterprets a painting by Eva Gonzalès, Manet’s only formal pupil and Guérard’s spouse until her untimely death in 1883. Featuring a bust portrait of an African woman wearing a scarf and headwrap, the original painting, now lost, was probably made as a tribute to Manet, who had depicted the same subject around 1862. Guérard often used recycled metal for his printing plates. At lower right, this print features the embossed mark of a zinc manufacturer, which was included on a hammered-out watering can that the artist used for printing.