Woman Reading: Lesson under the Trees (La liseuse: La lecture sous les arbres) 

Curator: This delicate etching by Alphonse Legros, titled "Woman Reading: Lesson under the Trees," presents a scene of quiet contemplation. Editor: It evokes a lovely serenity. The stark lines give it a wonderfully peaceful feeling, like a faded memory or a dream captured on paper. Curator: Indeed. Legros, a figure prominent in the etching revival, often portrayed the working class and rural scenes, elevating them to a form of social commentary, in response to rapid industrialization. Notice how the woman, nearly swallowed by the trees and vegetation, is almost anonymous in this rural landscape, blurring the boundaries of her world and theirs. Editor: It's fascinating how the artist plays with contrast using light and shadow. Look at how the trees in the foreground form strong vertical elements that direct the eye back toward the distant, softly rendered landscape. It creates depth using very economical means. The materiality itself seems so light, with such small detail it requires the careful work of printmaking. Curator: Absolutely. This work comes from a period where there was great concern about what it meant to live and work within industrialized and urban spaces. Legros found, and I would argue creates a feeling of idealized tranquility by centering on scenes such as this—an unspoken ideal for many. Legros, as professor at the Slade School, helped instill new artistic visions in a generation. Editor: It makes you wonder what she is reading, what world it takes her too? Perhaps to escape from all of that? Curator: That very sense of escapism probably spoke to his Victorian audience. Editor: It is a reminder of the pleasure and peace to be found in the act of reading, amidst the grandeur and calm of nature. Curator: And to consider the book as a symbol of knowledge, democratized perhaps, even in the hands of a solitary figure in the field.