The Mother

William Strang, who studied under Alphonse Legros, inherited from his teacher a facility with the etching needle as well as the ability to depict character, tell stories, and evoke atmosphere through the drawn line. Like Legros, Strang had a Puritan background and endowed simple peasants with pious attributes. His numerous etched portraits, particularly of literary figures, demonstrate an unsparing realism and psychological intensity that are also palpable in this scene of an anonymous mother with her baby.