In 1884 Louis Legrand (1863-1951) arrived in Paris, from his native Dijon, a provincial young man.  He would not remain so for long.  With a fierce talent for drawing, which tended towards social criticism, Legrand made his way as an illustrator for weekly magazines and as an apprentice to the depraved Belgian artist Félicien Rops.  From Rops, Legrand learned printmaking, and he never looked back.  Legrand continued to draw for publications on occasion, but as of the early 1890s he applied his talents as an etcher.  Well versed in aquatint, sugar-lifts, soft-ground, pure etching and drypoint, Legrand depicted Paris’ underbelly, its young ballerina’s, its night life…  Hundreds of prints, both monochromatic and in color attest to his great talent as the Belle Epoque etcher by excellence.