R Original "Femme Nue Couchee (tournee a droite),

OriginalRENOIR, PIERRE AUGUSTE
(1841 - 1919)
Femme Nue Couchée (tournée à droite) 2e Planche
Nude Woman Reclining, Facing Right, Second Plate
Delteil 14, Stella 14
Etching, c. 1906
Only State, Restrike
Edition Size Unknown
Renoir shared the Impressionists’ liking of returning repeatedly to a subject in a series of very varied works, as he did with his Reclining Nude: he derives continuing pleasure from her in the three small variations, each in a different style.
The first plate has a very smooth line of the drypoint; the second is unadorned, like a working drawing; the third has the vibrant quality of an etching.
Renoir used etching and drypoint as a means of enhancing the willowy curves of the model’s very real body, but managed to avoid the excesses of fashionable prettiness characteristic of so many fin de siécle artists. Here is another example of the artist, starting with one and the same motif, has created works that are diametrically opposed in terms of technique and yet achieve similarly harmonious results. The luminosity and flowing curve of the body are suggested in the one case by feathery drypoint incisions, in the second by the vibrant purity of the etched line, and in the third by small separate hatching strokes in the manner of the Venetian etchers or of Manet.
RESTRIKE OR REISSUE: This term is generally encountered in descriptions of prints from earlier centuries. The etched plates of some artists remained in existence after their death and were subsequently reprinted. Although not part of the approved edition -- as long as they come from the original plates, they are generally considered to be original prints.