Ilda (Hilda)
1894
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1894
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
This small sketch shows a lone woman standing on a beach at dusk. She’s wrapped in a long coat, her back to us, facing the water. The sky is a soft gray, and the waves look calm. The whole scene is drawn in faint blue lines on yellowish paper. The artist used a tricky printing method with sugar and acid to create the light, fuzzy look. It’s like the edges of the woman’s coat melt into the air. Next, look up sugar-lift aquatint to see how this unusual process works.
