Les Rapins

Jean-François Raffaëlli

1909 · Etching and drypoint with hand coloring; second state of two · Drawings and Prints

Traditionally, "rapin" was a colloquial term for a painter’s apprentice. By the turn of the twentieth century, it became associated more generally with bohemian artists. Raffaëlli frames this animated gathering of artists with paintings on easels in the foreground and background. The scene may recall his own meeting with Degas and others in the late 1870s at the Café de la Nouvelle Athènes, a favored gathering place of the Impressionist circle.

Artist

Jean-François Raffaëlli

Date

1909

Medium

Etching and drypoint with hand coloring; second state of two

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Dr. Ralph Weiler, 1960