Henri Guérard

Rather than using a copper plate to make this print, Guérard etched on a piece of recycled zinc that was probably a flattened watering can. The embossed mark of the can’s manufacturer at lower right—the place where older prints and drawings traditionally featured the stamps of illustrious former owners—suggests a humorous nod to the work’s humble origins.

Guérard’s print reinterprets a now-lost painting by his wife, the artist Eva Gonzalès. That painting, related to a work made by her teacher, Edouard Manet, illustrated the interest many French artists had in France’s subjects in African colonies.