A Vagabond Walking Along a Lane
c. 1890
Medium
Etching and drypoint on ivory Japanese paper
Dimensions
Image: 14.3 × 27.1 cm (5 11/16 × 10 11/16 in.); Plate: 15 × 27.7 cm (5 15/16 × 10 15/16 in.); Sheet: 17.7 × 30.1 cm (7 × 11 7/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
80718
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
In the Prints and Drawings department of the Institute of Chicago, Alphonse Legros' *A Vagabond Walking Along a Lane* (c. 1890) captures a poignant moment of solitude in the late 19th-century countryside. This etching and drypoint on ivory Japanese paper measures a modest 14.3 × 27.1 cm for the image, inviting close contemplation of its intricate details. Legros, a French-born artist who became a pivotal figure in British art education at the Slade School of Fine Art, drew from Realism's emphasis on everyday life, infusing his works with a Rembrandt-like depth and humanism. The technique shin...
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...