Farm on a Hill (La ferme sur la colline) 

Alphonse Legros made this etching, Farm on a Hill, using a dense network of finely etched lines. Notice how the network of lines creates a range of values from light to dark, capturing the building nestled among trees and foliage. Legros uses the etching technique to give this work a structural framework. The composition is almost claustrophobic, the building nearly consumed by the surrounding landscape. The eye moves from the lower foreground, filled with dense vegetation, up to the more open, lighter sky. The form of the landscape is not clearly defined, with the building an interruption of nature. This treatment challenges traditional landscape art with its romantic portrayal of nature. Legros instead hints at humanity's uneasy relationship with the natural world. The etching's formal qualities become a powerful means of expressing the complex tension between nature and civilization.