1874
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Guardhouse (La maison du garde) is a 1874 ink by Alphonse Legros, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a dark, tangled forest with tall, skinny trees and thick underbrush. The lines are rough and scratchy, like someone drew fast without smoothing out the marks. Light barely cuts through the branches, making the scene feel shadowy and quiet. The artist used a technique where they scratched into a metal plate instead of painting—this is called drypoint. The lines look almost like they were made with a sharp tool, leaving behind a textured, uneven look. Next, look up technique: drypoint to see how this method works.
Alphonse Legros (French pronunciation: ; 8 May 1837 – 8 December 1911) was a French, later British, painter, etcher, sculptor, and medallist.
See the richer artist page
