1874
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Egg-sellers, 1st plate (Les marchandes d'oeufs) is a 1874 ink by Alphonse Legros, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows two women in loose robes, sitting on the ground. One holds a basket of eggs, the other leans in close, maybe to help or chat. Their clothes are simple, and the lines around them are rough and busy, like quick scribbles. The background is just more tangled marks—no clear shapes, just texture. Notice how the artist used tiny, repeated lines to fill the whole image, even the shadows. It’s not smooth; it’s scratchy, like they’re drawing fast to catch the moment. Check out etching, drypoint, aquatint to see how artists make prints this way.
Alphonse Legros (French pronunciation: ; 8 May 1837 – 8 December 1911) was a French, later British, painter, etcher, sculptor, and medallist.
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