Grim Towers of Loches

Jules Andre Smith

1880–1959

Grim Towers of Loches, circa 1920s

Where object was made: France

Material/technique: laid paper; etching

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 250 x 182 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 9 13/16 x 7 3/16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 314 x 243 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 12 3/8 x 9 9/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in

Credit line: Gift of Hal M. Davison, Class of 1949

Accession number: 1998.0587

Not on display

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Exhibition Label:
"American Etchers Abroad, 1880-1939," Apr-2004, Reed Anderson
In 1921 Jules Andre Smith and his etching companion Ernest Roth set out for another tour of Europe. They traveled extensively in France and Spain and during this journey abroad their once similar styles began to diverge markedly. As Smith’s "Grim Towers of Loches" shows his subjective approach to a subject was firmly in place, for the print is invested with a palpable sense of mystery. The city’s famed medieval citadel is shrouded in darkness, its round pointed towers looming ominously above the cobblestone street lined with shops and homes.
Built for the counts of Anjou in the mid-13th century, the medieval structure served as a royal residence before being turned into a state prison. It was believed to have the deepest dungeons in the Loire Valley. The citadel’s dark and oppressive history was surely Smith’s principal subject, manifest in its heavily shadowed facade, rendered in delicate cross-hatching and enhanced by selective wiping of the plate.