Woodcutters' Meal

Art Historical Context

**Woodcutters' Meal by Louis Auguste Lepère invites visitors into a serene snapshot of rural French life from 1887, later published in 1908. This wood engraving housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings department measures 29.2 × 21.7 cm in its image area on a larger sheet of cream laid Japanese paper. Lep, a prominent French printmaker of the late 19th, specialized in capturing everyday scenes with remarkable precision, often drawing from the working-class world around him. The medium—wood engraving—holds special significance as a technique revived in France during this era. By carving fine lines into the dense end grain of wood blocks, artists like Lepère could achieve etching-like detail and rich tonal contrasts, elevating printmaking to fine art status. The use of Japanese paper, prized for its absorbency and texture, nods to the widespread Japonisme influence sweeping European artists, enhancing the print's luminous quality and subtle elegance. This work reflects the period's growing appreciation for authentic, unpretentious subjects amid rapid industrialization. Whether pausing for a humble meal amid the forest, the woodcutters embody Lepère's skill in evoking texture and light, making "Woodcutters' Meal" a gem for admirers of masterful print traditions. (198 words)

About the Artist

Louis Auguste Lepère · 1849–1918

Louis-Auguste Lepère (1849–1918) was born in Paris on November 30 to the sculptor François Lepère, immersing him early in the artistic world. At age thirteen, he apprenticed in the studio of the English wood engraver Joseph Burn-Smeeton, training there from 1862 to 1867, and later attended drawing courses under Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran at the Petite École (now École nationale supérieure des art...