Ragpicker

Jean-François Raffaëlli French

Not on view

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.

Ragpicker, Jean-François Raffaëlli (French, Paris 1850–1924 Paris), Etching and drypoint with surface tone selectively wiped

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Ragpicker, Jean-François Raffaëlli (French, Paris 1850–1924 Paris), Etching and drypoint with surface tone selectively wiped
Ragpicker, Jean-François Raffaëlli (French, Paris 1850–1924 Paris), Etching and drypoint with surface tone selectively wiped

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