Entry to Rousseau's Studio and the Millet Home Possibly 1908

Editor: Auguste-Louis Lepère's "Entry to Rousseau's Studio and the Millet Home," possibly from 1908. The piece combines etching and engraving on paper. It has an intimate feel; almost like a collection of sketches within a larger print. What draws your attention to this work? Curator: The layering of techniques – etching, engraving, potentially even drypoint given the velvety blacks – immediately speaks to the artist's engagement with the physicality of printmaking. Lepère wasn't just reproducing an image; he was exploring the potential of the medium itself. What do you notice about the subject matter's depiction? Editor: It’s interesting how it seems to depict artistic spaces… studios and homes, almost shrines for the artists? The inclusion of a bas-relief portrait too. Curator: Exactly. By placing the viewer at the entry points, Lepère implicates us in the ongoing processes of artistic production and appreciation. Notice, also, the very visible 'hand' of the artist in the varying line weights, textures, and compositions on one plane. These all suggest a commentary on artmaking, no? Editor: Definitely. It’s almost like Lepère is celebrating the labor, literally the 'mark making,' that goes into creating these spaces and the art within. Is there a connection between the work being a print, and that connection between the spaces and work? Curator: Precisely! As a printmaker, Lepère inherently understands and participates in a world of reproducible images, challenging the concept of the singular, unique art object. Here, through material engagement and artistic referents, the "entry" points become both literal and symbolic entrances into understanding an artistic practice across time. Editor: I hadn't considered how the printmaking process itself could be a comment on the subject! This exploration of the "means of production," and spaces of production gives a new angle to approach and consider it through. Thanks. Curator: And through our dialogue, you brought into focus what it depicts -- that the place is equally the process, and they exist hand in hand!