Cours la Reine or Banks of the Seine, Rouen
1884
Camille Pissarro captured the industrial grit of Rouen in this moody 1884 etching, showing the city's famous cathedral spires rising above a hazy riverbank. Unlike the sunny, colorful scenes typical of his Impressionist peers, Pissarro embraced the smoke and shadows of a working city, with a lone factory chimney puffing away beside the historic architecture. He actually wrote the title backwards at the top of the plate—'Cours la Reine Rouen'—a quirky little signature of the printmaking process. It's a fascinating glimpse into how the Industrial Revolution was changing the French landscape, even in its most historic towns.
- Technique
- etching
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