The Stream

Rodolphe Bresdin

1880

An etching and roulette by Rodolphe Bresdin that renders a secluded stream and surrounding birch woods with obsessively detailed linework to create a mysterious, almost dreamlike atmosphere.

Dense, scratchy blacks and minute stippling press in from the edges so that the small, glimmering pool at the center reads like a calm eye amid an intricately engraved, shadowy forest.

Part of the 19th‑century revival of etching, Bresdin's tiny, obsessive textures and fantastical landscapes helped push printmaking toward symbolic and surreal visions that would influence later artists.

Palette

Art Terms

Etching Intaglio Print Landscape Symbolism Monochrome

Exhibitions

Symbolism, Synthesists, and the Fin-de-Siècle

1972

Modern European Art

1933

French Paintings from the Molyneux Collection

1952

Twenty Lithographs: Graphic Art Processes

1941