Remembrance of My Village (Souvenir de mon village)
1826 to 1850
Medium
etching? and drypoint
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
1953.12.21
Art Historical Context
Alphonse Legros' *Remembrance of My VillageSouvenir de mon village, created between 1826 and 1850, captures a poignant nostalgia for rural French life. As a master printmaker associated with Realism, Legros drew from his own countryside roots near Dijon to evoke the humble charm of village scenes—think thatched roofs, winding paths, and everyday folk amid misty landscapes. This etching and drypoint print exemplifies his skill in translating intimate memories into art, bridging personal sentiment with broader 19th-century interests in regional identity and the vanishing peasant world. The medi...
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...