
Collection Online as of February 7, 2023
(French, 1837–1911)
Metalpoint
Support: White clay-coated board, laid down on cardboard, overmatted with cardboard mount
Sheet: 31.5 x 23 cm (12 3/8 x 9 1/16 in.)
Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2008.392
not on view
This drawing, which appears to be a portrait at first glance, is difficult to categorize. Alphonse Legros created many such images while teaching in London, at the school of South Kensington and then at the Slade School, where he advised his students to directly copy the Old Masters. Legros combined depiction of live models with references to art of the past, as seen here. He used the thin lines of metalpoint for expressive means on this sheet.