Saint Servan
1917
Medium
graphite
Dimensions
Overall: 17.8 x 22.7 cm (7 x 8 15/16 in.) support: 25.9 x 30.5 cm (10 3/16 x 12 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.5479
Art Historical Context
Auguste Lepère (1849–1918), a prominent French illustrator and engraver, captured the charm of Saint-Servan historic port district in Brittany—in this delicate 1917 graphite drawing. late in his career amid the backdrop of World War I the work reflects Lepère's passion for documenting French landscapes and architecture with meticulous detail. Known for his style and mastery of printmaking techniques like wood engraving Lepère often sketched en air, translating everyday scenes into evocative studies bridged 19th-centuryism and early modern sensibilities. Rendered in graphite on (17.8 x 22.7 cm...
About the Artist
Auguste Lepère · 1849–1918
Auguste-Louis Lepère (1849–1918), son of the sculptor François Lepère, was born in Paris on November 30, 1849, into an artistic family that shaped his early path. At age thirteen, he apprenticed in the Paris studio of the English wood engraver Joseph Burn Smeeton, honing his skills in wood engraving until 1867. He furthered his training with drawing classes under Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran at the...