Chelsea Regatta
1888–89
Medium
Etching in black on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 8 × 12 cm (3 3/16 × 4 3/4 in.); Sheet, with signature tab: 8.6 × 12 cm (3 7/16 × 4 3/4 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
210919
Art Historical Context
Theodore Roussel’s *Chelsea Regatta* captures a lively moment on the River Thames in late-Victorian London. Created between 1888 and 1889, the small etching depicts boats gliding past the Chelsea embankment, a favorite subject for artists drawn to the river’s shifting light and modern leisure. Roussel, a British painter and printmaker influenced by James McNeill Whistler, often chose such everyday urban scenes, translating their fleeting atmosphere into the precise language of etching. Printed in black ink on cream laid paper, the work demonstrates the medium’s ability to render delicate line...
About the Artist
Theodore Roussel · 1847–1926
Theodore Casimir Roussel was born on 23 March 1847 in Lorient, Brittany, France, into a naval family. After serving in the Franco-Prussian War, he began painting in 1872 as an entirely self-taught artist, initially rendering scenes of daily life in the meticulous style of the Old Masters. In 1878, he settled permanently in London, where he immersed himself in the vibrant British art scene. There, ...