An Autumn Evening: Near Rossillon
1874
Medium
Etching on ivory Japanese paper
Dimensions
Plate: 8 × 16.5 cm (3 3/16 × 6 1/2 in.); Sheet: 15.3 × 22.7 cm (6 1/16 × 8 15/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
45337
Art Historical Context
Adolphe Appian's *An Autumn Evening: Nearillon* (1874) captures the serene beauty of a fading autumn day in the French countryside, likely evoking the ochre-toned landscapes near Roussillon in Provence. As a prominent member of the Barbizon School, Appian specialized in intimate, atmospheric etchings that celebrated nature's subtle moods, bridging Romanticism and the emerging Realism of 19th-century France. This-scale print invites viewers to linger on the interplay of twilight shadows and lingering warmth, a hallmark of his ability to infuse everyday scenes with poetic depth. Rendered as an ...
About the Artist
Adolphe Appian · 1818–1898
Adolphe Appian, born Jacques Barthélemy Adolphe Appian in Lyon, France, on August 28, 1819, began his artistic training at the age of fifteen at the École des Beaux-Arts de Lyon. There, he studied under the landscape painters Jean-Michel Grobon and Augustin Alexandre Thierrat, initially focusing on fabric decoration for the city's thriving silk industry. This practical grounding in drawing honed h...