Alphonse Legros (1837-1911), who trained with Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran and at the École des Beaux-Arts, was part of the circle of young realist artists that included Henri Fantin-Latour and James McNeill Whistler; although he painted and produced sculpture, he is primarily remembered as an etcher. Thanks to his links with Whistler and, through him, the Ionides family, Legros settled in London in the late 1860s, where he remained for the rest of his life; upon Edward John Poynter’s retirement from the Slade in 1876, he took up a professorship which he held until 1893, during which time he introduced etching to the syllabus.

Despite his long residence in Britain, Legros never became fluent in English, a potential obstacle to a teaching career which he overcame by teaching by demonstration. This portrait of the renowned Victorian painter George Frederic Watts dates from his first year at the Slade and is one such demonstration piece; it is a striking example of Legros’s skill as an etcher, with Watts’s face, lined and strongly shadowed, rendered with precision, panache and sympathy. The summary rendering of the sitter’s clothing suggests that Legros was indeed working to time constraints – the length of a class session – and chose to focus his attention entirely on the head. As such it provides a record not only of Legros’s artistry but also of his teaching, which had a decisive influence on shaping British realism in the 1880s.

Henry Harper Benedict, New York (1844-1935; Lugt 2936); Paul Prouté, Paris; purchased by Donato Esposito, December 2002; Gift of Donato Esposito in memory of Professor John House, 2012

Impressions of Modern Life: Prints from the Courtauld Gallery, Royal Holloway College, Egham, Surrey, 13/01/2020-03/04/2020

Print Room Display - Honouring John House, The Courtauld Gallery (Prints and Drawings Study Room), 05/08/2015-25/02/2016

L'œuvre gravé et lithographié de Alphonse Legros, orné d'une eau-forte originale, et d'un fac-similé du portrait de l'artiste d'après son propre dessin
cat. no. 198
State iii/v

Inscription: inscription : handwritten in graphite : lower margin (below plate mark) & recto : : A legros

Inscription: stamp : red printing ink : lower left corner & recto : collector's stamp :

Inscription: stamp : red printing ink : lower left corner & verso : collector's stamp :

Inscription: stamp : black printing ink : lower left corner & verso : collector's stamp :