Old Village (Ville vieille)
1826 to 1850
Medium
etching and drypoint?
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.5474
Art Historical Context
Alphonse Legros's *Old Village (Ville vieille, created between 1826 and 1850, is a delicate etching and drypoint from the National Gallery of Art Rosenwald Collection. Born in France in 1837, Legros was a pivotal figure in 19th-century printmaking, bridging Realism and the etching revival. Though early in his career, this captures his affinity for rural subjects, evoking the timeless charm of a French village through intricate lines and subtle textures. Etching and drypoint techniques here: etching uses acid to etch precise lines into a copper plate, while drypoint's direct needle scratches c...
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...