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  • Moonrise from the River

  • ca. 1899
  • Theodore Roussel (French 1847-1926)
  • Softground etching on Japan tissue
  • 5.6 x 9.8 cm., 2-3/16 x 3-7/8" image
  • Lent Courtesy of Dr. Thomas B. Brumbaugh Art History Collection through Catherine Carter Goebel, Paul A. Anderson Chair in the Arts

Essay by Erin Bertram, Former Fellowship Instructor of English

"At last, I have found a follower worthy of the master." — James Abbott McNeill Whistler, ca.1885 (Getscher 148-149)

There is a subtle but pressing tension present in Théodore Roussel's soft ground etching Moonrise from the River between painstakingly meticulous skill and what appears to be fleeting, near-whimsical-if quiet-artistry. Its spareness, its broad, yet focused pastoral scene, and its subtle intensity bring to mind Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh's Wheatfield with Crows. Roussel, a mostly self-taught printmaker and painter, was French-born (Anderson 2011). He served in the Franco-Prussian War, but, due to poor health, gave up military service in favor of pursuing art (Getscher 148-149). And, in 1878, when he moved to England, his work met quick and enthusiastic acclaim.

In 1885, Roussel was introduced to artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler (Anderson 2011). Having seen some of Roussel's paintings on display, Whistler asked the gallery director to make the introduction, noting some of their common interests: boats, factories, children, nocturnes (Getscher 148-149). A lifelong friendship resulted (Anderson 2011). To be sure, Roussel's head was often bare when he was in Whistler's presence, a sign of respect (Getscher 148-149). Roussel was an enthusiastic disciple of Whistler's style, and was also among the few contemporaries Whistler recognized as possessing great artistic skill (Wilcox 317). Whistler would go on to introduce Roussel to the dual engraving media of drypoint and etching (Anderson 2011). And although Roussel often claimed he was a "pupil of Whistler"-his paintings do tend to echo Whistler in both style and subject matter-his routinely distinct style, namely found in his etchings, suggests otherwise.

Roussel would pursue etching and drypoint throughout the rest of his life, even going so far as to fashion his own frames, like Whistler, for each individual work (Anderson 2011). Like Whistler, too, Roussel regularly chose paper and ink with exacting care (Getscher 148-149). And, like abstract painter Wassily Kandinsky, Roussel was endlessly fascinated by color theory, which led to regular experimentation with color, and, eventually, to pioneering the technique of color etching in England (Anderson 2011). Around the year 1894, Roussel began experimenting with lithography (Getscher 148-149). His impassioned commitment to his work even led him to experiment with textile and celluloid plates, in addition to, near the end of his life, creating a new ink-substitute paste, dubbed the Roussel medium (Wilcox 317).

Moonrise from the River, however, is a black and white etching, a work that does not rely on color but merely suggests it with its low, rising moon, its tall grasses likely swaying on the riverbank, and its languid water reflecting the moon on its dark surface.