DOI Heft:
Nr. 118 (January 1903)
DOI Artikel:Sparrow, Walter Shaw: The etched works of Alphonse Legros
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19877#0270
Alfthonse Legros
You will find, indeed, that even his most vigor-
ous etchings have a weighty repose, a masterly self-
restraint, a tranquillity full of dignity and force.
The figures, though agitated by strong emotions,
never bustle; their movement is one not of tumult
but of ordered rhythm and of carefully planned
simplicity. Any break in the rhythm of the
design, any flaw in the distribution of the lights
and shades, causes Mr. Legros to renew his work
in a different "state"; and there are times
when his discontent lasts until as many as nine
variants of the same etching have been pulled.
Remember, it is the general effect of his design,
the dramatic unity of his impression, that occupies
his mind through all these changes. That he
should be no less self-critical in things of minor
account, that he should be distressed by little awk-
wardnesses of drawing, little carelessnesses in the
handling of details, may be true enough; but there
are times when such small blemishes get into his
work and remain unnoticed. As Sir Walter Scott
passed many a slip in grammar, so Mr. Legros, in his
achieving of a well-constructed unity of impression,
has proved from time to time that a great draughts-
man can err in trifling ways noticeable to all of us.
Then, as regards the general character of his
technique, that may be studied in the excellent
illustrations which accompany this article. It
varies much, but always in response to the effect
required by a given subject. Mr. Legros has in
etching no rule-of-thumb methods, and (as the
late R. A. M. Stevenson remarked) he troubles
himself not one whit about new schools and new
dodges of treatment. " He never stops to think
whether he is before or behind the fashions of the
moment." It is enough that he should think of
the realisation of his chosen subject; and in this
creating act of thought he is always guided partly
by his fidelity to his favourite masters, and partly
by his dramatising instinct, the true magician
among all his gifts. But for it, one thinks, Mr.
Legros might easily have become the slave of the
old-time traditions which he now handles largely as
a master. Constant intercourse with the great has
turned many a man of talent into a mere phono-
graph ; and it is true also that only minds of ex-
ceptional ability have ever infused a new life and a
new character into existing forms of commanding
greatness. This is what Mr. Legros has done for
us, after much intercourse with the greatness ot
other times : and assuredly it is a great achievement,
well worth studying with delight and gratitude.
"a sunny meadow," No. 340
258
from the etching by a. legros
You will find, indeed, that even his most vigor-
ous etchings have a weighty repose, a masterly self-
restraint, a tranquillity full of dignity and force.
The figures, though agitated by strong emotions,
never bustle; their movement is one not of tumult
but of ordered rhythm and of carefully planned
simplicity. Any break in the rhythm of the
design, any flaw in the distribution of the lights
and shades, causes Mr. Legros to renew his work
in a different "state"; and there are times
when his discontent lasts until as many as nine
variants of the same etching have been pulled.
Remember, it is the general effect of his design,
the dramatic unity of his impression, that occupies
his mind through all these changes. That he
should be no less self-critical in things of minor
account, that he should be distressed by little awk-
wardnesses of drawing, little carelessnesses in the
handling of details, may be true enough; but there
are times when such small blemishes get into his
work and remain unnoticed. As Sir Walter Scott
passed many a slip in grammar, so Mr. Legros, in his
achieving of a well-constructed unity of impression,
has proved from time to time that a great draughts-
man can err in trifling ways noticeable to all of us.
Then, as regards the general character of his
technique, that may be studied in the excellent
illustrations which accompany this article. It
varies much, but always in response to the effect
required by a given subject. Mr. Legros has in
etching no rule-of-thumb methods, and (as the
late R. A. M. Stevenson remarked) he troubles
himself not one whit about new schools and new
dodges of treatment. " He never stops to think
whether he is before or behind the fashions of the
moment." It is enough that he should think of
the realisation of his chosen subject; and in this
creating act of thought he is always guided partly
by his fidelity to his favourite masters, and partly
by his dramatising instinct, the true magician
among all his gifts. But for it, one thinks, Mr.
Legros might easily have become the slave of the
old-time traditions which he now handles largely as
a master. Constant intercourse with the great has
turned many a man of talent into a mere phono-
graph ; and it is true also that only minds of ex-
ceptional ability have ever infused a new life and a
new character into existing forms of commanding
greatness. This is what Mr. Legros has done for
us, after much intercourse with the greatness ot
other times : and assuredly it is a great achievement,
well worth studying with delight and gratitude.
"a sunny meadow," No. 340
258
from the etching by a. legros