Portrait of Frederic Leighton

Alphonse Legros

c.1878;

Etching and drypoint in black ink on off-white paper, 2nd state

15 ¼ x 10 inches (38.5 x 25.2 cm) – platemark.

Collection of Cleveland Museum of Art, accession no. 1944.398.

This etching exists five states although impressions of the first and fifth states are rare. Most examples are of the second state. The etching shows a bearded Leighton in profile to the right with his hooked nose and wavy hair. The etching is based on a drawing of Leighton dated 1878. The preliminary drawing of Leighton, like the similar drawing of Poynter, surpasses the etching in the quality of its treatment of the subject. The drawing and print would have been made around the time that Leighton was elected President of the Royal Academy in 1878. — Dennis T. Lanigan

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