Banks of the Marne
c. 1883
Medium
Etching, drypoint and plate tone on light-green laid paper
Dimensions
Plate: 12 × 17.5 cm (4 3/4 × 6 15/16 in.); Sheet: 15.3 × 28.4 cm (6 1/16 × 11 3/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
51289
Art Historical Context
Alphonse Legros, a French-born artist who became a pivotal figure in British art after settling in London in 1863, captures the serene beauty of the Marne River's banks in this etching from around 1883. The Marne, winding through the French countryside near Paris, inspired many 19th-century artists seeking respite from urban life. Legros, renowned for realist landscapes and portraits, blends meticulous observation with a poetic atmosphere, reflecting his role in the etching revival that bridged Realism and emerging Impressionist influences. Printed on light-green laid paper—a traditional supp...
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...