Madame Réjane

Aubrey Vincent Beardsley

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Beardsley's drawing centers on Gabrielle Réjane, a successful French acress whose London debut as Catherine in "Madame Sans Gêne" took place at the Gaiety Theatre on June 24, 1894. The artist imagines her resting on a chaise-longue and uses a filmy sweep of skirt to define the form, with deep black japoniste upholstery supporting the actress's back and feet. A strong visual contrast is established between the expanse of white paper at left, containing a few minimalist lines that describe furniture, and a dark border below which is filled is flowers but is reminiscent of the edge of a stage.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art