Anders Zorn (Mora, 1860 - 1920, Mora)
Night Effect III, 1897
Etching on heavyweight laid paper, Additional Dimension (framed): 20 7/8 x 30 7/16 in. (53 x 77.3 cm)
40 x 29.7 cm (15 3/4 x 11 11/16 in.)
The central figure in this etching is a light-skinned female standing with her head tilted slightly upward with an unpleasant expression on her face. She looks directly at the viewer with her body turned slightly to our right. She is dressed in a dark billowy garment with a large collar that appears to be trimmed with fur or feathers. Her hair is pulled into an updo, and she wears a dark hat. To our right is a dark area and to our left behind the figure is a brightly lit area where chairs and windows are visible. This piece is signed and dated in the lower left.
Short Gallery
Commentary
This image of a Parisian streetwalker is unique in Zorn’s work. Unsteady on her feet, she clings to a convenient tree for support, her expression a mixture of seduction and disgust. She is an impressive figure on the boulevards of nocturnal Paris, recognizable as a prostitute to contemporaries. Zorn monumentalized the woman by placing her frontally in full figure in the foreground, and by choosing a vertical format as well as a low viewpoint.
Source: Anders Zorn: A European Artist Seduces America, special exhibition on view in the museum's Hostetter Gallery, February 28 – May, 2013.
Source: Anders Zorn: A European Artist Seduces America, special exhibition on view in the museum's Hostetter Gallery, February 28 – May, 2013.