Cherchez la Femme by Evelyn Gladys Mitchell Solomon
Cherchez la Femme
Evelyn Gladys Mitchell Solomon
Title
Cherchez la Femme
Artist
Evelyn Gladys Mitchell Solomon
1924 - 2016 (biography)Year
c. 1960
Technique
color woodcut with hand-applied color
Image Size
22 1/2 x 13 3/16" image size
Signature
pencil, lower right
Edition Size
1 of 1 unique
Annotations
pencil titled, lower left, and annotated "Unique Impression", lower center
Reference
Paper
fibrous Japanese laid
State
Publisher
Inventory ID
22245
Price
$350.00
Description
"Cherchez la femme" translates to "look for the woman," a phrase coined by Alexander Dumas in his novel Les Mohicans de Paris, which has since become a cliche used in novels, films, and plays. By his reckoning, Dumas suggests that when a murder has been committed, the detective need only find the victim’s closest female acquaintance to identify the murderer.
Used in this case by a woman artist, the phrase has been turned on its head, suggesting instead that woman is the source of truth, and to find her is to know that truth.
Evelyn Mitchell Solomon was known for her nonrepresentational works and abstracted images of the natural world, rendered in oils, acrylics, collage, and drawings of all mediums, in addition to woodcuts.