The Patrol
Etcher Henri-Louis Dupray French
Publisher Alfred Cadart French
Not on view
A familiar subject for the distinguished military painter, "The Patrol" is the third and final etching that Dupray published with Alfred Cadart, the leading promotor of etching in Paris during the third quarter of the century. The oversized and slightly awkward signature betrays his discomfort in the reversal required by the print medium, though the figures of the soldiers and horses are freely and adeptly conveyed. It may have been Dupray’s teacher Léon Cogniet (1794–1880) who encouraged Dupray to try his hand at etching in 1863 when he reproduced his first Salon painting. Dupray was at the height of his career having won medals at the Salons of 1872 and 1874, when he decided to attempt etching again.