Alphonse Legros(1837-1911):Extase Poétique (1876)

Immersed in the French Realism originating from Courbet, Legros was a central figure in the movement and much admired by the poet Baudelaire. With James McNeil Whistler and Henri Fantin-Latour he formed the Société des Trois, a move that saw the three painters working in the same tradition as the Dutch Masters. He moved permanently to England and later became Professor of Fine Art at the Slade School where his insistence on concise draughtsmanship and respect for the Old Masters influenced an entire generation. He represented rural, religious and sometimes macabre subjects. He preferred etching as a medium and was instrumental in the etching revival in the 19th Century. In addition to his work as a painter he was also a sculptor.
This beautiful delicate etching of a young girl illustrates wonderfully Legros’s classical values and economic line. His friend Degas owned a copy of this print.

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