Harvesters Surprised by the Storm (Moissoneuses surprises par l'orage)
1826 to 1850
Medium
etching retouched with crayon
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of George Matthew Adams in memory of his mother, Lydia Havens Adams
Accession Number
1956.14.23
Art Historical Context
In the National Gallery of Art's collection, Alphonse Legros's *Harvesters Surprised by the Storm* (Moissoneuses surprises par l'orage), created between 1826 and 1850, vividly captures a moment of rural drama. This etching depicts field workers caught off guard by an approaching tempest, evoking the unpredictability of nature amid 19th-century agrarian life. Legros, a French artist renowned for his realist portrayals of peasants and landscapes, drew inspiration from the everyday struggles of the countryside, aligning with the era's shift toward truthful depictions of ordinary people over ideal...
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...