Color etching, drypoint and roulette on imitation Japan paper with hand coloring, printed in the manner of a monotype, 1903. 180x205 mm; 7x8¼ inches, wide margins. Artist's proof, aside from the edition of 40. Signed and dated in pencil, lower right. Published by Sagot, Paris. Southard 57.
Bottini (1874-1907) was a Belle Époch French artist centered in Montmartre, known for his graphic, colorful artworks depicting scenes from cafes, bars, theatres, dance halls and brothels. Bottini initially worked as an art restorer and spent innumerable hours working with Old Master works by Goya, Rembrandt, Watteau and others. He was heavily influenced by Japanese prints and often looked to his contemporaries Constantin Guys, Manet and Degas--he also spent evenings perusing late-night haunts with Toulouse-Lautrec (who he was clearly influenced by). He was included in a group exhibition in 1899 entitled "Bals, bars, théâtres et maisons closes," which gave him some acclaim during his lifetime.
Bottini prints, which include mostly woodcuts and etchings, are relatively scarce today and he appears to have created only 8 etchings (produced between 1898 and 1903). To avoid the tedium of preparing individual etching plates for separate colors in his etchings, Bottini, like some of his contemporaries, applied color inks directly to the etchings plates--creating variation with each printing in the manner of a monotype.
La Soupeuse epitomizes the claustrophobic interiors and disorienting quality Bottini is well known for in his etchings. The haphazard perspective of the food on the table, the bulging table cloth, the distorted waiter and the blasé female patron--delicately tending to her shrimp--all contribute to a scene with frenetic energy. The scene depicts, presumably, a high-class Parisian prostitute dining alone as the waiter obviously looks on in judgment. The perspective granted to the viewer is voyeuristic and one feels as though they are presented with a glimpse into the frivolous, sexually-charged activities of men and women in the Belle Époque.
Bottini had two very close childhood friends, artist Fabien Launay and writer Gaston de Pawlowski, who considered themselves bohemians and were immersed in the nightlife of Montmartre, including the notorious Moulin Rouge. Launay died at the age of 26 and Bottini, like 15% of the male population of Paris, suffered from syphilis which directly affected his mental health. In 1907, after 18 years of syphilis infection, Bottini died in an insane asylum at the age of 33. Bottini's distinctive view of Montmartre went on to influence the works of many early modern artists, namely Pablo Picasso--especially in his formative Blue Period.
