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Liseuse à la Lampe (Woman Reading by Lamplight)

Félix-Hilaire Buhot

1879

ink

paper

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Impressionism Realism Late 19th Century Interior Reading

Dominant colour

Liseuse à la Lampe (Woman Reading by Lamplight) is a 1879 ink by Félix-Hilaire Buhot, a Impressionism work, depicting Reading, held at National Gallery of Art.

Who painted this?: Félix-Hilaire Buhot
When & what style?: 1879 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: National Gallery of Art

About this work

This quiet print shows a woman reading by a single lamp. Her shadow stretches long across the wall behind her. The light catches the pages of her book just enough to read. Buhot carved this with tiny tools. He scraped and burnished the metal plate by hand to brighten or dim the light in places. It takes patience to make shadows feel so real. See it at the National Gallery of Art, Washington.