Road Through a Village
Medium
Soft ground etching from the first of two zinc plates in blue-green on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 29.4 × 29.8 cm (11 5/8 × 11 3/4 in.); Sheet: 30.6 × 44.6 cm (12 1/16 × 17 9/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
49581
Art Historical Context
Théophile-Alex Steinlen's *Road Through a Village (1902) captures a serene rural moment through the delicate medium of soft ground etching A Swiss-born artist who made home in Paris's vibrant Montre, Steinlen was a master printmaking, renowned for his Art Nouveau posters,, and social realist depictions of everyday life. This work, the first of two zinc printed in evocative blue-green on ivory laid paper, exemplifies his skill in translating textured scenes onto paper with subtle tonal variations. Soft ground etching, a technique Steinlen favored, allowed for soft, velvety lines that mimic pen...
About the Artist
Théophile-Alexandre Pierre Steinlen · 1859–1923
Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, born on November 10, 1859, in Lausanne, Switzerland, grew up in an environment steeped in artistic influence, with his grandfather serving as a drawing teacher in nearby Vevey. He studied literature at the University of Lausanne before working as a designer trainee in a Mulhouse textile mill. In his early twenties, around 1881, Steinlen married Émilie Mey, and the cou...