{"id":27029,"date":"2019-03-20T12:17:33","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T17:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=27029"},"modified":"2019-03-20T12:17:33","modified_gmt":"2019-03-20T17:17:33","slug":"in-effort-to-authenticate-legros-discovery-austin-peay-state-university-student-finds-connections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2019\/03\/20\/in-effort-to-authenticate-legros-discovery-austin-peay-state-university-student-finds-connections\/","title":{"rendered":"In effort to authenticate Legros discovery, Austin Peay State University student finds connections"},"content":{"rendered":"

Austin Peay State University (APSU)<\/h2>\n

\"AustinClarksville, TN<\/strong> – Earlier this semester, Austin Peay junior Katherine Tolleson discovered two drypoint creations by famed artist Alphonse Legros in the University\u2019s Permanent Collection.<\/p>\n

Tolleson and APSU gallery director Michael Dickins started investigating clues on the drypoint\u2019s paper, such as watermarks, signatures, titles and impression numbers. Legros\u2019 signature was clear. And on one of the prints, titled \u201cThe Sailor,\u201d Legros writes the image is one of only 10 imprints.<\/p>\n

\"Austin<\/a>

Austin Peay State University junior Katherine Tolleson holds \u201cHead of an Old Man,\u201d left, and \u201cThe Sailor.\u201d (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Tolleson and Dickins searched through dozens of Legros collections online. The British Museum in London, England, houses many Legros prints, so Tolleson crafted a letter recently to the museum.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur initial research led us to you,\u201d Tolleson writes. \u201cWe appreciate any advice you have in attempting to officially authenticate the two prints.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hugo Chapman, who is The Simon Sainsbury Keeper of Prints & Drawings at The British Museum, responded on the same day.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Boston Public Library has this print, \u201cLe Marin,\u201d in its collections. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cDear Katherine, I see no reason not to think these are by Legros,\u201d Chapman writes. \u201cAs you say the signature matches that found on many of his prints and he was a prolific printmaker. The numbering of 696 on the sailor matches that of \u2018Le Marin\u2019 (only 10 impressions).\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLe Marin\u201d is French for \u201cThe Sailor.\u201d<\/p>\n

[320left]Chapman also suggested Tolleson should contact the University of Glasgow in Scotland to find if the number 679 on Austin Peay\u2019s other print, titled \u201cHead of an Old Man,\u201d corresponds to the Legros catalog entries there.<\/p>\n

Tolleson and Dickins previously hadn\u2019t found record of any of the nine other impressions of \u201cThe Sailor,\u201d but Chapman found a print titled \u201cLe Marin\u201d at Boston Public Library<\/a>, which also houses a print similar to Austin Peay\u2019s \u201cHead of an Old Man.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooks like I may have to contact Glasgow, though I think that more research needs to be done going forward,\u201d Tolleson said.<\/p>\n

Using Ultraviolet Light<\/h3>\n

Austin Peay adjunct instructor and alumna Macon St. Hilaire recently visited with Tolleson to help investigate the Legros prints.<\/p>\n

St. Hilaire is a technical art historian and preservation associate at the Tennessee State Library and Archives. She also earned her master\u2019s degree in technical art history at the University of Glasgow.<\/p>\n

\"Macon<\/a>

Macon St. Hilaire and Tolleson used ultraviolet light to examine the watermarks of the paper. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

Tolleson and St. Hilaire used ultraviolet light to examine the prints\u2019 watermarks to pinpoint when and where the paper was created. The technique helped Tolleson read the watermarks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really unsure if this letter was an \u2018O\u2019 or a \u2018C,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cThere are several watermarks that look like this, but none that match it completely.\u201d<\/p>\n

St. Hilaire noted, \u201cArt supplies in the United Kingdom were very standardized already in the early 18th<\/sup> century, so it would have been easy to get this from manufacturers there.\u201d<\/p>\n

[320right]In addition to other clues on the prints (Legros\u2019 signature and the numbering system, for example), the watermarks point to the late 19th<\/sup> century, when Legros was active in England.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was in a really big circle of artists at the time, like (James McNeill) Whistler and the Royal Academy,\u201d St. Hilaire said. \u201cHis work is studied and valued for it, his drawings as well as his printmaking, his painting as well. He\u2019s largely more well known in the UK than he is here.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her letter to The British Museum, Tolleson wrote: \u201cThe watermark on \u2018The Sailor\u2019 was partially cropped, and though we found one company that appeared to share a similar watermark, we weren’t 100 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter further research, we discovered three possible watermarks that this paper could have. Those being: Catteshall Mill, specifically Sweetapple; an unknown Britannia watermark; and James Simmon\u2019s watermark.<\/p>\n

\"Katherine<\/a>

Katherine Tolleson holds Austin Peay State University\u2019s Legros print titled \u201cThe Sailor.\u201d (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cFor \u2018Head of an Old Man,\u2019 we’ve concluded that the watermark, which features the letters O.W.P and A.C.L., is the watermark of the Old Watercolor Paper and Arts Company Ltd., founded in 1895 by John William North.\u201d<\/p>\n

The watermarks date the works to late in Legros\u2019 life while he was still in England.<\/p>\n

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