Lily Arena Assise (Seated)

Edgar Chahine

This drypoint is one of the artist's most well known and charming images. The subject, Lily Arena, seated in full costume with her legs crossed, looks the viewer in the eye with a self assured, beguling expression on her face. She is a symbol of self confidence.

Returning to "Belle Epoque" portraiture in 1907 after the death of his fiance, Mary Jacobson, Chahine, like Toulouse-Lautrec, turned his focus to Parisian entertainers, like Lily Arena.

Gabriel Weisberg, in his essay in "Edgar Chahine: La Vie Parisienne" notes on page 23:

"With Lautrec often the guiding presence, Chahine also tried to synthesize the work of Paul Helleu and thus remain the master interpreter of women among Parisian printmakers..."