Sheep Drinking at a River (L’Abreuvoir aux Moutons)

Description

Jacque's images tend toward the pastoral, with man as an overseer, like the shepherd here, who tends nature's bounty. Such passive images of work were more comforting to the urban middle classs, who enjoyed conjuring up a sweet, peaceful, ideal world as a counterpoint to the poor working conditions that accompanied urban industrialization.¸¸This image is rendered in drypoint, the simplest intaglio technique. The artist uses a steel needle to scratch a drawing in a copper plate. Ink is then rubbed into the shallow grooves, a wetted sheet of paper is placed atop the inked plate, and both are passed through a roller press to print.