Emma and Her Baby, Chelsea Embankment
1888–89
Medium
Etching in black on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 10.4 × 9.3 cm (4 1/8 × 3 11/16 in.); Plate: 11.8 × 9.5 cm (4 11/16 × 3 3/4 in.); Sheet, with signature tab: 12.4 × 9.5 cm (4 15/16 × 3 3/4 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
210915
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
For many of his earliest etchings Roussel used small copper plates and focused on Chelsea scenes, conveying a clear sense of place while often presenting affectionate portraits of the neighborhood’s youngest residents. In this example, a nursemaid with her charge stands in front of Chelsea Embankment’s characteristic railings, with Battersea factories across the Thames River. Roussel employed a shorthand drawing style, almost caricature, to portray his figures.
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, ...