Genre work with a nude in the forest was executed ca. in the late 1850s- early 1860s and due to the artist monogramm and comparison with early artist´s works was attributed to the hand of French painter, etcher and sculptor Alphonse Legros (1837 Dijon - 1911 Watford near London). British etcher, painter, sculptor and teacher of French birth. In 1855 he enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris. During this period Legros had a taste for early Netherlandish art and for French Romanticism, which was later superseded by his admiration for Claude, Poussin and Michelangelo. However, his devotion to Holbein proved constant.Legros began etching in 1855; he preferred this medium and produced over 600 plates. Many of his early works are deliberately rough in execution.Legros emerged as a leader of the younger generation of realists, notwithstanding his conspicuous dependence on Courbet. However, this critical success brought no financial security, and in 1863 Legros visited London where he found admirers and patrons. Legros resolved to remain in London.In 1876 Edward John Poynter recommended Legros to succeed him as Professor of Fine Art at the Slade School. Legros occupied this position until 1893 and introduced etching and modelling to the syllabus. He was a founder-member of the Society of Painter-Etchers in 1881 and of the Society of Medallists in 1885; the revival of the cast art medal was due almost entirely to his example.With its classically inspired economy of form and design, Legros´s interpretation of his realist subject-matter exerted a decisive influence in England on the representation of peasant life in the 1880s. Full biography of Legros see in the wikipedia under following link:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_Legros

Literature: Lexicons by Thieme/Becker, Benezit, Lemberger.

Inscription: signed with monogramm right in the middle (on the tree) .

Technique: oil on canvas. Original period gold-plated frame.

Measurements: unframed w 9 7/8" x h 14" (25 x 35,5 cm), framed w 17 1/3" x h 21 1/2" (44 x 54,5 cm).

Condition: good, original canvas was professionally cleaned and relined.