Ragpicker

Jean-François Raffaëlli

1884 · Etching and drypoint with surface tone selectively wiped · Drawings and Prints

Raffaëlli annotated impressions of this print with his reflections on the ragpicker, a subject for which, he admits, he always had "a weakness." The artist found "in these poor devils an idea of fierce independence" as well as "our abandonment." In this composition, he gives no indication of the tools of the trade—namely the large baskets in which these workers collected discarded fabrics throughout the city—rather, he focuses attention on the sitter's weathered face and guarded gaze. An impression of this print may have been among the early etchings and drypoints Raffaëlli exhibited in the fifth Impressionist exhibition in 1880.

Artist

Jean-François Raffaëlli

Date

1884

Medium

Etching and drypoint with surface tone selectively wiped

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, Peco Foundation, 2023