Paysans se Reposant (Peasants Resting)
19th century
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Mount: 4 1/2 × 5 11/16 in. (11.4 × 14.4 cm) Plate: 1 3/4 × 2 3/4 in. (4.5 × 7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The J. B. Neumann Collection, Gift of Dr. Franz H. Hirschland, 1951
Accession Number
51.504.37
Art Historical Context
In the tranquil etching *Paysans se Reposant (Peasantsing)*, French artist Rodolphe Bres captures a serene moment of rural respite from the 19th century. as a delicate intaglio print, this diminutive work—measuring just 1 3/4 × 2 3/4 inches on the plateshowcases Bresdin's mastery of etching, a technique where acid etches fine lines into a metal plate richly textured impressions. His intricate linework evokes the Romantic fascination with nature and everyday life, blending meticulous detail with a dreamlike quality that influenced later Symbolists like Odilon Redon. Bresdin, active amid France...
About the Artist
Rodolphe Bresdin · 1822–1885
Rodolphe Bresdin (1822–1885) was a visionary French draughtsman, engraver, and lithographer whose fantastical imagery captured the empathy of rural poverty and the wild exuberance of the imagination. Born on August 12, 1822, in Montrelais near Le Fresne-sur-Loire in Brittany, he grew up in the Breton countryside amid its bardic folklore traditions before a family dispute left him homeless in Paris...