A Vagabond Walking Along a Lane
c. 1890
Medium
Etching and drypoint on ivory Japanese paper
Dimensions
Image: 14.3 × 27.1 cm (5 11/16 × 10 11/16 in.); Plate: 15 × 27.7 cm (5 15/16 × 10 15/16 in.); Sheet: 17.7 × 30.1 cm (7 × 11 7/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
80718
Art Historical Context
In the Prints and Drawings department of the Institute of Chicago, Alphonse Legros' *A Vagabond Walking Along a Lane* (c. 1890) captures a poignant moment of solitude in the late 19th-century countryside. This etching and drypoint on ivory Japanese paper measures a modest 14.3 × 27.1 cm for the image, inviting close contemplation of its intricate details. Legros, a French-born artist who became a pivotal figure in British art education at the Slade School of Fine Art, drew from Realism's emphasis on everyday life, infusing his works with a Rembrandt-like depth and humanism. The technique shin...
About the Artist
Alphonse Legros · 1837–1911
Alphonse Legros (1837–1911) was born in Dijon, France, and trained in Paris at the drawing school of Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran, whose unconventional teaching method — which emphasised memory drawing and acute observation over academic convention — would leave a lasting mark on Legros's practice. At Lecoq's school he formed friendships with Jules Dalou and Auguste Rodin that endured throughout hi...