Artwork
Elle s'élance après lui
Elle s'élance après lui is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Antoine-Jean Duclos. It dates from 1777 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Antoine‑Jean Duclos produced the print titled Elle s’élance après lui in 1777.
About this work
Overview
Antoine‑Jean Duclos produced the print titled Elle s’élance après lui in 1777. Executed as a combined etching and engraving, the work is a single‑sheet print that measures the artist’s interest in narrative scenes rendered with fine line work.
Subject & Meaning
The composition shows a woman in a long dress and hat sprinting down a slope toward a body of water, accompanied by several other figures in motion. The surrounding landscape of trees, hills and distant buildings frames the scene, conveying a moment of hurried pursuit or escape.
Technique & Style
Duclos employed both etching and engraving, allowing for delicate tonal washes alongside sharply defined lines. This dual approach yields a textured surface that accentuates the figures’ movement and the atmospheric depth of the background, reflecting the late‑eighteenth‑century fascination with dynamic composition.
History & Provenance
Created in the final decade before the French Revolution, the print is documented as part of Duclos’s output during a period when French printmakers were exploring more expressive, narrative subjects. Its later ownership records are sparse, and it now appears in public collections focused on 18th‑century French graphic art.
Artist & collection
