At the Foot of the Hill
1826 to 1850
Medium
pen and brown ink with brown wash on laid paper
Dimensions
overall (approximate): 32.6 x 34.7 cm (12 13/16 x 13 11/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.5532
Art Historical Context
**At the Foot of the Hill is a captivating drawing by Alphonse Legros (7–1911), a French artist known for bridging Realism and etching traditions. Created sometime between 1826 and1850—likely during Legros's formative years—this work measures approximately 32.6 34.7 cm and exemplifies his early mastery of landscape and figure studies. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's Rosenwald Collection (Department-E), it reflects the intimate, preparatory nature of 19th drawings, often made en plein air or from memory to capture fleeting natural scenes. Rendered in pen and brown ink with brown wash o...
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...