On the Lookout 1900

Paul-Albert Besnard's 1900 etching "On the Lookout" depicts a skeletal figure, likely Death, holding a scythe and gazing upwards toward a couple embracing in the clouds. The work's stark contrasts and expressive lines highlight the theme of mortality and the fleeting nature of life. Besnard, a prominent French Symbolist painter and printmaker, often explored the themes of love, death, and the passage of time in his art.