Who painted Drinking Trough, 2nd plate (L'abreuvoir)?

Drinking Trough, 2nd plate (L'abreuvoir) was painted by Alphonse Legros in 1874.

Where can I see Drinking Trough, 2nd plate (L'abreuvoir)?

Drinking Trough, 2nd plate (L'abreuvoir) is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is Drinking Trough, 2nd plate (L'abreuvoir)?

Drinking Trough, 2nd plate (L'abreuvoir) is associated with Romanticism.

Artwork

Drinking Trough, 2nd plate (L'abreuvoir)

Alphonse Legros , 1874

Drinking Trough, 2nd plate (L'abreuvoir) is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Alphonse Legros. It dates from 1874 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Overview

His technical focus on drypoint contributed to a broader revival of etching in Victorian Britain, where he taught at the Slade School of Art.

Created in 1874, *Drinking Trough, 2nd plate (L'abreuvoir)* is a drypoint print by Alphonse Legros, a French artist who settled in London in 1863 and became a British citizen. The work belongs to a series exploring rural life and reflects Legros’s engagement with printmaking as a serious artistic medium. His technical focus on drypoint contributed to a broader revival of etching in Victorian Britain, where he taught at the Slade School of Art.

Subject & Meaning

The scene captures a cow drinking from a wooden trough beneath a thatched roof, a quiet moment in agricultural life. No narrative or symbolism is imposed; instead, the focus lies in the ordinary rhythm of farmstead existence. The composition avoids idealization, presenting the animal and structure with unembellished presence, emphasizing the physicality of the environment over sentiment.

Technique & Style

Legros employed drypoint to create dense, scratchy lines that build form through accumulation rather than smooth gradation. The overlapping strokes generate texture and shadow, with no use of wash or tone. The thick, irregular marks convey a sense of immediacy, as if drawn directly from observation. Light enters faintly through a distant window, but the overall effect is one of tactile roughness, rooted in the medium’s inherent grain.

History & Provenance

The print was made during Legros’s early years in England, a period when he was deeply involved in the British art scene. It was likely produced for private circulation or academic study, as drypoint prints of this type were often limited in edition. No public record of its early ownership exists, but it aligns with Legros’s broader practice of producing multiple states of a single subject to refine his technique.

Context

In the 1870s, British printmaking was undergoing a resurgence, with artists turning away from industrial themes toward rural and domestic subjects. Legros, influenced by French Realism and Dutch genre painting, brought a direct, unpolished aesthetic to his work. His drypoints stood in contrast to the polished engravings of the time, offering a more intimate, hand-made quality that resonated with emerging modern sensibilities.

Legacy

Legros’s drypoints, including this work, helped redefine etching as a vehicle for expressive, non-illustrative art. His emphasis on the physical act of mark-making influenced a generation of British printmakers. Though less widely known today, his pedagogical role and technical rigor left a lasting imprint on the teaching of printmaking in Britain, particularly through his tenure at the Slade.