Girl with a Violin

Among the quieter revelations in L'Estampe originale was this experimental relief print, which mimics in paper what sculptor Alexandre Charpentier had been doing in his portrait medallions. The modest subject-lost in her playing, hair not quite in place-seems to punctuate the paper with each attack of her bow. The print also heralds Charpentier's pioneering contributions to Art Nouveau, evident in the embossed floral backdrop. He used a separate intaglio plate, uninked, to emboss the underlying design.