Skip to main content
Woman Teasing Miniature Men

Henry Somm

Woman Teasing Miniature Men

1863-1906

Scroll

Henry Somm

Woman Teasing Miniature Men

1863-1906

Physical Qualities Etching, Sheet: 105 × 90 mm. (4 1/8 × 3 9/16 in.)
Credit Line The George A. Lucas Collection, purchased with funds from the State of Maryland, Laurence and Stella Bendann Fund, and contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations throughout the Baltimore community
Object Number 1996.48.7853
At center, the artist renders a finely dressed woman of Amazonian proportions wreaking havoc among miniature men. From beneath her bustle, a serpentine tail emerges, pointing to a gentleman who has been brought to his knees yet still gazes longingly at her. Before her, another man has been knocked onto his back, losing his top hat. The woman toys with a third man’s heartstrings as he floats off into the starry sky. Somm’s seductress manipulates the men around her, a classic femme fatale whose dangerous sexual power is all the clearer as she is a hybrid, unnatural being.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 1996; The Maryland Institute College of Art, through Henry Walters, Baltimore, by bequest 1909; from George A. Lucas, Paris
Women Behaving Badly: 400 Years of Power and Protest

Artist

Henry Somm

1843–1906

French, 1844-1907
Meet Henry →

Explore the Collection Further

Henry Somm
Three Figures Strolling
1863–1906
Andrea Schiavone and Titian
Three Women and a Man Dancing around a Seated Woman, Satyrs in Foreground
1519–1562
Henry Somm
Almanach for 1881
1880
Japanese Woman's Undergarment (han-juban)
2009
Henry Somm
The Magician
1863–1887
Ndebele
Unmarried Woman's Front Waist Garment (Ipepetu)
1949–1959
Henry Somm
Woman Walking Out of an Apartment while Putting on Gloves - Man Looks after Her
1863–1906
Ndebele
Married Woman's Front Waist Garment (Amaphotho)
1979–1988
Henry Somm
Les Femmes dévotes
1873–1883
James Simpson
Fishermen's Huts, with Woman and Girl
1869–1887
Henry Somm
Woman with a Large Hat
1863–1906
Berber
Woman's Head Cover (Mendil or Tajira)
1899–1965