Artwork
At the Fortifications, Porte de Versailles
At the Fortifications, Porte de Versailles is a print by the Impressionist artist Auguste Lepère. It dates from 1898 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
This etching shows a woman hanging laundry on a line near Paris’s old city walls. A small table holds a basket of clothes. The background is empty except for a few leafless trees and a cloudy sky.
Lepère drew this in 1898 to show where poor Parisians lived. The laundry line stands out as the only sign of home in a bare, almost dreamlike place.
Look up Auguste Louis Lepère (French, 1849–1918).
Overview
At the Fortifications, Porte de Versailles is an etching by Auguste Lepère, created in 1898. It depicts a scene on the outskirts of Paris, near the old city walls.
Subject & Meaning
The print shows a woman hanging laundry, with a small table and basket nearby. The image highlights the contrast between the domestic activity and the desolate, makeshift surroundings, reflecting the lives of Paris's poor and marginalized residents.
Technique & Style
Lepère's etching features a stark, dreamlike landscape with leafless trees and a cloudy sky, emphasizing the isolation and hardship of the subject.
Context
The work is a commentary on the social consequences of Paris's mid-19th-century redevelopment, which displaced low-income workers to the city's periphery, where they constructed informal homes without modern amenities.
Artist & collection
Artist
Louis-Auguste Lepère (30 November 1849 – 20 November 1918) was a French painter and etcher. Lepère is also considered a leader in the creative revival of wood engraving in Europe.
