Storm on the Dune, Vendee (L'orage sur la dune, Vendee)
1826 to 1850
Medium
etching
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.5555
Art Historical Context
In the National Gallery of Art's Rosenwald Collection, *Storm on the Dune, Vendée (L'orage sur la dune, Vendée)* captures the raw power of nature through the masterful etching of French artist Auguste Lepère. Created between 1826 and 1850, this print depicts a dramatic seascape along the rugged dunes of Vendée, a coastal region in western France known for its windswept beaches and Atlantic fury. Lepère, renowned for his intricate landscapes and urban scenes, employs the etching medium to evoke the storm's intensity—lines bitten into a metal plate by acid create swirling clouds, crashing waves,...
About the Artist
Auguste Lepère · 1849–1918
Auguste-Louis Lepère (1849–1918), son of the sculptor François Lepère, was born in Paris on November 30, 1849, into an artistic family that shaped his early path. At age thirteen, he apprenticed in the Paris studio of the English wood engraver Joseph Burn Smeeton, honing his skills in wood engraving until 1867. He furthered his training with drawing classes under Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran at the...