In late 19th-century Paris, the printmaking process of etching underwent a revolutionary transformation. At a time when prints were usually made as copies of paintings rather than as original works of art, a revival of interest in etching led to greater knowledge of technique, allowing artists to experiment with subject matter and process more than ever before. This exhibition features works on paper by well-known artists such as Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt, as well as those lesser known today, including Albert Besnard and Henri Guérard, and features several new acquisitions to the RISD Museum’s collection.

The exhibition is complemented by the online publication Altered States: Etching in Late 19-thCentury Paris, made possible by a grant from the IFPDA Foundation.

Altered States is made possible by the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The RISD Museum is supported by a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, through an appropriation by the Rhode Island General Assembly and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and with the generous partnership of the Rhode Island School of Design, its Board of Trustees, and Museum Governors.