Femme de lettres
Maker
(artist)
1860-1942
(etcher)
1860-1942
Carfax and Co. (publisher)
1860-1942
(etcher)
1860-1942
Carfax and Co. (publisher)
Title
Femme de lettres
Date of Production
1915
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Height: 15.1 cm
Width: 18.2 cm
Width: 18.2 cm
Accession Number
G.1935.SC.41
Mode of Acquisition
Samuel Courtauld, gift, 1935
Credit
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Copyright
Work in the public domain
Location
Not currently on display
Keywords
Label Text
This work’s title is particularly ambiguous. The suggestion that the female depicted is an highbrow and respectable ‘Woman of Letters’ is undercut by the sexual liaison she appears to be having with the older man upon whose lap she sits. The title could be interpreted as a reference to ‘French Letters’; slang for a contraceptive. The work’s satirical character betrays Sickert’s long standing admiration for English caricature, especially William Hogarth (1697-1764) and the illustrator Charles Keene (1823-1891).
Provenance
Information not yet known or updated
Exhibition History
Special Display - Works by Sickert, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 05/10/2007-20/01/2008
Inscriptions
Inscription: inscribed : signed in ink : recto & lower right : : Sickert
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