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
Andaleeb Banta, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Women Behaving Badly: 400 Years of Power and Protest," July 18 - December 19, 2021.
