The Road (La route)

A curving path bends across an open landscape, with a cluster of trees to one side and a lone figure standing on a rise in the distance. The scene is worked entirely in black ink, with the pale tone of the paper left bare to suggest light and open sky. This piece, titled The Road, was made in 1878 as a monotype in black ink on china paper, and it is held at the National Gallery of Art. The artist, Edgar Degas (1834–1917), was a French painter associated with Impressionism, whose notable work The Ballet Class is also known. Worth noticing is how the dark, fluid lines of the road contrast with the untouched paper around it, giving the impression of shifting daylight across the empty ground.