Rue des Marmousets (Quartier de la cite, vieux Paris)
1862
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1862
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
This etching shows a quiet Paris street lined with old stone houses and bare trees. The artist drew sharply angled roofs and crooked chimneys in fine lines. It looks simple but isn’t. Maxime Lalanne used three printmaking tricks at once—etching, drypoint and aquatint—to mix velvety shadows with crisp details. That combo gives the scene an odd quiet power. Look up the technique called chiaroscuro to see how light and dark behave here.
