Legros

Legros, ALPHONSE, painter and etcher, was born at Dijon in 1837 of poor parents, who apprenticed him to a house-painter. He first attracted attention by pictures exhibited in the Paris Salon between 1859 and 1863. But three years later he settled in London, and becoming a naturalised Englishman was in 1876 appointed Slade Professor of Fine Arts in University College, London. The subjects he paints best are the rural scenes, and the peasants and humble priests, of France. His admirable artistic method and the austere simplicity and reserve of his style, though they secure him warm admirers amongst artists, have not made him popular. See Dublin University Magazine (1880) and Art Journal (1881).