Counterproof of an impression from a name plate for Edward D. Adams
ca. 1892
Medium
Counterproof of an etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 6 5/16 × 5 7/16 in. (16 × 13.8 cm) Plate: 4 × 3 7/8 in. (10.1 × 9.9 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Edward D. Adams, 1921
Accession Number
21.33.21
About this artwork
This counterproof etching by Alphonse Legros (circa 1892) represents an intermediate stage in creating a bronze name plate for Edward D. Adams, a prominent American financier and art patron. The Metropolitan Museum holds multiple related works from this commission: studies, sketches, and counterproofs documenting Legros's creative process. Counterproofs—made by pressing fresh ink from a newly printed impression onto another sheet—create reversed images useful for assessing compositional balance ...
Art Historical Context
This counterproof etching by Alphonse Leg, created around 1892, captures an intriguing intermediate step in designing a bronze name plate for D. Adams, a American financier and art patron Produced by pressing fresh ink from a newly printed etching onto another sheet, the counterproof yields a reversed "mirror" image. This technique allowed Legros to evaluate the composition's balance and refine details before transferring the design to metal—a clever printmaker's tool that reveals the hidden mechanics of artistic creation. Legros (1837–1911), a French-born artist who settled in London in 1863...
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...