Portrait of Christian Bernhard Rode, the Artist's Father

ca. 1756

Not on view

Rode was one of the important eighteenth-century German printmakers. Here he depicted his father, the goldsmith Christian Bernhard Rode about the time of his death in 1756. This is a very early, experimental etching by the artist. Typical of Rode's prints throughout his career is the stippled shading that models the sitter’s face. Once he had etched the portrait, the artist covered the background and the sitter’s clothing in the printing plate with a lavis, a layer of acid applied directly to the plate with a brush. As the acid bit into the copper printing plate, it created a layer that would print as a dark overall tone. He then polished away some of that layer in order to create highlights on the sitter’s coat.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Catalogue Raisonné

Title: Portrait of Christian Bernhard Rode, the Artist's Father
Artist: Christian Bernhard Rode (German, Berlin 1725–1797 Berlin)
Date: ca. 1756
Medium: Etching and lavis; first state of two
Dimensions: Sheet: 8 1/16 × 5 11/16 in. (20.5 × 14.5 cm)
Plate: 6 11/16 × 4 5/8 in. (17 × 11.8 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 2018
Object Number: 2018.10
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Christian Bernhard Rode
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Mountain Valley with a Plateau, Hercules Segers Dutch, Line etching, drypoint, and metal punch printed in blue-green, on a yellow-green ground, colored with brush; second state of two — Mountain Valley with a Plateau
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Woman Bathing (La Toilette), Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint and aquatint, printed in color from three plates; fourth state of four (Mathews & Shapiro) — Woman Bathing (La Toilette)
Mary Cassatt
Printer Jointly printed by the artist and Monsieur LeRoy
1890–91

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