2-981-805 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

"Gathering Wood" by Edouard Frère, 1876. Engraving of a painting. 'This picture...from the recent exhibition...at Messrs. Agnew's gallery, shows the more pathetic side of Edouard Frère's art and sympathy with French peasant life. It is winter and a snow-covered landscape; the occupation of the figures tells of poverty and privation and labour in all weathers; and that labour must be shared by the aged grandam and the youngest children alike. The only fuel procurable to keep out the cruel cold...and to boil the soupe maigre or the pot-au-feu must be gathered from a wood or coppice, whether near or distant. Yet, even in this saddening subject, the pleasant geniality of the painter makes itself felt in the pretty incident of the little boy cheerfully putting out his small strength to the utmost to bind up, unaided, the slender faggot which is his contribution to the family comfort'. From "Illustrated London News", 1876.