The Russian Dance (La Danse Russe)
Maker
Jean-Baptiste Le Prince
(French, 1734-1781)
Date1769
MediumEtching and aquatint in brown ink on cream laid paper
DimensionsPlate: 15 3/16 × 12 1/4 in. (38.6 × 31.1 cm)
Sheet (irregular, max.): 21 3/8 × 15 3/4 in. (54.3 × 40 cm)
Sheet (irregular, max.): 21 3/8 × 15 3/4 in. (54.3 × 40 cm)
Credit LineUniversity Transfer from Max Epstein Archive
Collections
Object number1976.145.391
Status
Not on viewAn important figure in the development of aquatint was Jean-Baptiste Le Prince, a French painter and printmaker who traveled and worked in Russia from 1758 to 1763. The Russian Dance is printed in brown ink to imitate wash drawings made with bistre (a water-soluble brown ink made from wood soot). Just as French printmakers frequently combined engraving and etching, this print combines the new technique of aquatint with etching.
Smart Publications:
The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art
Richard Earlom
1774 (design); 1777 (published)
