The Big Tree
1826 to 1850
Medium
pen and brown ink with brown wash over graphite on laid paper
Dimensions
overall (approximate): 40.8 x 31.9 cm (16 1/16 x 12 9/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.5507
Art Historical Context
Nestled in the National Gallery of Art's Rosen Collection, *The Big Tree* is a captivating drawing by French-born artist Alphonse Legros1837–1911), dated between 1826 and 1850. Rendered on laid paper—a traditional support prized for its texture and durability—this work measures approximately 40.8 x 31.9 cm and exemplifies Legros's early mastery of landscape studies. Though the date precedes his birth, it likely reflects the paper's origin or stylistic influences from that Romantic era, when nature was celebrated as a sublime force. Legros, a key figure in 19th-century Realism and the etching ...
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...