Morning, Crossroads of the Forts de Marlotte 1889

Auguste-Louis Lepère made this etching called 'Morning, Crossroads of the Forts de Marlotte'. The print depicts a forest scene with two figures on a path and it encapsulates a broader shift in artistic sensibilities. It was made in France, a nation undergoing rapid modernization and industrial expansion. The Barbizon school, with its focus on direct observation of nature, represented a turn away from academic painting and the increasing importance of rural life. Lepère, as an etcher and engraver, brought printmaking closer to painting and drawing, questioning the established artistic hierarchy of the time. Looking at this print, we might wonder how the forest became such an important subject for artists and how their work reflected a growing nostalgia for the natural world in the face of urban development. To understand Lepère's printmaking practice, we could look into the printmaking journals and exhibition reviews of the time. The meaning of this image is profoundly shaped by the historical and institutional conditions in which it was produced and received.