Design for a Frame
1899–1908
Medium
Pen and brush and black ink, with graphite and traces of white gouache on semi-transparent yellowish brown wove paper
Dimensions
26.6 × 65 cm (10 1/2 × 25 5/8 in.)
Classification
drawings (visual works)
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
211091
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This particularly bold design for a wide frame molding was conceived, drawn, and even initialed by the artist, but never produced. Roussel also created two variant emblems for the blank cartouche at top center—a cluster of silhouetted flowers resembling anemones, in black, and a salamander before a rising sun, rendered in colors that include metallic pigment.
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, ...