The Sea at Bognor
1895
Medium
Soft ground etching, inked à la poupée, in yellowish green and greenish blue on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image, trimmed within platemark: 7.5 × 14.1 cm (3 × 5 9/16 in.); Sheet: 10 × 15.1 cm (3 15/16 × 6 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
214346
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Roussel was a pioneer in color etching in Britain, and a series of trial proofs illustrates his creative process. For many of the proofs, colored ink was painted onto the plate and then apparently printed without using a press. The completed version of this soft ground etching was among a set of nine color prints first exhibited in 1899. Roussel also made a painting of the same view of sky, sea, and shore at Bognor Regis, located on the southern coast of England.
About the Artist
Theodore Roussel · 1847–1926
Theodore Casimir Roussel was born on 23 March 1847 in Lorient, Brittany, France, into a naval family. After serving in the Franco-Prussian War, he began painting in 1872 as an entirely self-taught artist, initially rendering scenes of daily life in the meticulous style of the Old Masters. In 1878, he settled permanently in London, where he immersed himself in the vibrant British art scene. There, ...