by-nc

Cain and Abel

Maker


1831-1900

Title

Cain and Abel

Date of Production

1876

Medium

etching

Dimensions

Height: 43.5 cm (Sheet)
Width: 30.9 cm (Sheet)

Accession Number

G.2025.XX.4

Mode of Acquisition

gift, 2025

Credit

Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust). Gift of Donato Esposito, 2025

Location

Not currently on display

Label Text

Born in Toulouse, the sculptor and painter Alexander Falguière (1831-1900) enjoyed a successful career, regularly exhibiting his work in both media at the Salon and winning numerous honours (the Prix de Rome in 1859, the medal of honour at the Salon in 1868, and an appointment as Officer of the Legion of Honour in 1878).

This print, a proof for an illustration published in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, June 1876, opposite p. 700, reprises the artist's painting of the same year exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1876, now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Carcassonne. Falguière has translated the painting's earthy tones into a dense network of etched lines. The print was exhibited at the L'Exposition Nationale de L'Eau-Forte Moderne, École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, in 1896 (no. 296). The artist also made a smaller etching of the same composition (posthumously published in 1902) (Paris, Musée du Petit Palais, inv. no. PPG361). 

Provenance

Campbell Fine Art, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, from whom purchased by Donator Esposito, 2005.

Inscriptions

Recto, lower centre, graphite, Cain et Abel / Eau-forte originale de Falguiere / Epreuve avant la lettre; lower right, graphite, Falguiere

Information on this object may be incomplete and will be updated as research progresses. We are particularly committed to addressing any discriminatory or offensive language and ideas that might be present in our records. To help improve this record, and to enquire about images of the Courtauld Gallery Collection, please email gallery.collectionsonline@courtauld.ac.ukFind out more about using and licensing our images.

____________________________

Buy a print from our collection