100–101. Maxime Lalanne, Landscape with a House Behind Large Elm Trees near Bordeaux and River Landscape

Born and raised in Bordeaux, Maxime Lalanne first pursued art as a pastime while embarking on a legal career. His talent was soon recognized, and he was persuaded to pursue art full time. In 1852 he moved to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts). That same year, he successfully entered two charcoal drawings at the Paris Salon. He went on to become a regular Salon entrant and eventually a juror.

Though he was an avid, prolific, and skillful draftsman, Lalanne is probably best remembered for his activity as a printmaker and an author of technical handbooks. His etchings were admired for their technical mastery and tidy finish. As an advocate for the medium, he was one of the original members of the Société des Aquafortistes (Society of Etchers), founded in 1862. His manual on etching, first published in 1866,¹ continues to be reprinted in our own century. Next he wrote Le Fusain (1869), a guide to charcoal drawing.² It was the first treatise on the subject and it, too, went into multiple editions.

Lalanne became thoroughly Parisian but retained close ties to Bordeaux, sketching in and around the city during vacations.³ He seems to have been partial to a village called Cenon. It has now been incorporated into the environs of Bordeaux, but in Lalanne’s day it was lightly populated. Landscape with a House relates closely to Lalanne’s etching The Elms of Cenon, dated 1874 (fig. 1).⁴ The drawing, then, may stem from a visit to Bordeaux during the early 1870s. The resemblance between the two works, in particular the grove of trees and the overall composition, is especially close when one bears in mind the image reversal inherent in the process of printing etchings.

The two Lalanne charcoals in the Weisberg Collection differ in tone and technique: one is large and precise, the other small and atmospheric. Landscape with a House shows Lalanne’s ability to capture the simplicity and grandeur of nature in ways that tie him to Realism and Romanticism. The landscape is carefully groomed; the path is neatly edged. This could even be the country estate of a wealthy owner for whom grazing livestock were as much an ornament as a business proposition. In keeping with the manicured view, Lalanne subordinated gesture to the detailed rendering of form, texture, space, and lighting. Firm, carefully placed lines define the contours of foreground plants and other details. He built up the leafy mass of the trees with countless clusters of tight squiggles, many of which he then smudged to produce a play of light that suggests volume and intricacy. His use of white chalk lights up the wispy clouds, plants, and partially seen house. The scale and elaborate finish mark this drawing as a work intended for public display.

The smaller River Landscape, whose precise location remains unknown, shows a freer side of Lalanne’s draftsmanship, especially in the atmospheric sky. Here Lalanne thoroughly smudged his charcoal to eliminate individual strokes, instead creating vaporous shadows. The half-darkened sky invites us to imagine the change of light at dusk or an imminent change of weather. Though Lalanne detailed elements of the scene, such as the boat and its occupant, he displayed less self-conscious precision on this smaller sheet.

TER and GPW