1890
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Paris under Snow is a 1890 by Auguste Lepère, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This engraving shows Paris rooftops dusted in white snow. The buildings stand in neat rows under a gray sky. Trees in the distance look like dark blobs. Lepère carved this on wood, not paper. Ink went into the cuts. Then he pressed it down hard. The snow shows as white lines against the dark city. It’s quiet but sharp. See it next at The Cleveland Museum of Art.
Wood engraving was perfected about 1770 in England by Thomas Bewick (1753–1828). Since the end grain of a hard wood is used, the block can be engraved with a sharp instrument called a burin, making closely set lines possible and producing a great range of textures and tones. The surface of the block is inked and printed so that the engraved lines appear as white areas. The strength of the block meant that numerous impressions could be printed. Wood engraving thus became a principal method for illustrating books and newspapers in the 19th century. Lepère developed an extraordinary mastery of…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Louis-Auguste Lepère (30 November 1849 – 20 November 1918) was a French painter and etcher. Lepère is also considered a leader in the creative revival of wood engraving in Europe.
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