Alphonse Legros
La Lisière de Fôret. (The Edge of the Forest).
c. 1899

Name: La Lisière de Fôret. (The Edge of the Forest).
Brand: Alphonse Legros
Price: 240 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Bliss 504. 8 x 12 1/2 (sheet 9 1/4 x 13 5/8). A rich impression printed on cream laid paper. A large, impressive plate with subtle inking. Unsigned. Provenance: Baldwin-Wallace College. Japanese paper stencils are used in the process of dyeing textiles. The patterns are varied: geometric shapes, animals, flowers, landscapes and everyday objects. The patterns are an art form in themselves. Some are constructed for repeat dyeing; others are single designs. They are cut into sheets of handmade mulberry paper laminated together and waterproofed with persimmon tannin. Designs are cut into the paper with thin knives and fine punches, and reinforced with stands of silk. Each plate has two small pinholes that serve as "register marks." A pin or point is passed through each of these two holes and into the corresponding marks left by the previous impression. In this way, design continuity is insured. Designs can be printed either vertically or horizontally. Alphonse Legros, (born May 8, 1837, Dijon, France—died Dec. 8, 1911, Watford, Hertfordshire, Eng.), French-born British painter, etcher, and sculptor, now remembered chiefly for his graphics on macabre and fantastic themes. An excellent draftsman, he taught in London, revitalizing British drawing and printmaking during a period of low ebb. Legros first attracted attention at the Paris Salon of 1857 with a profile portrait of his father. Other well-received early works are the Angelus (1859) and the Ex Voto (1861). He became closely associated with Gustave Courbet, James McNeill Whistler, and Édouard Manet and was hailed by Charles Baudelaire and other champions of a “new realism” as an important figure. His paintings exhibit his characteristic fine draftsmanship, in the tradition of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, but have come to be regarded as perhaps too obviously sentimental. Encouraged by Whistler, Legros settled in London (1863) and taught etching until his appointment as Slade Professor of Fine Art, University College, London (1876–92), where he insisted on sound constructional drawing. He helped found the Society of Medallists in 1885 and made a series of 26 cast portrait medallions of famous Victorians.

Creator:

Alphonse Legros (1837 - 1911, British)

Creation Year:

c. 1899

Dimensions:

Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)Width: 20 in (50.8 cm)Depth: 0.5 in (1.27 cm)

Medium:

Etching

Movement & Style:

Barbizon School

Period:

Late 19th Century