Georges  Rouault (French, 1871-1958)
Hiver lepre de terre
(Winter Leprosy of the Earth)
Intaglio; Plate XXIV for the Miserere

The largest print cycle done by Rouault, Miserere et Guerre (Mercy and War, 1916-1927, published 1948) established him as a printmaker favorably compared with the Spanish artist Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828).  Like the earlier artist's depiction of the horrors of war, Rouault responded with powerful emotions to the horrors of World War I.  But unlike Goya, Rouault was able to find grace in the midst of the great human suffering.

Rouault is one of the premier artists of the Christian faith of the 20th Century.  He was a major figure in the art world of France, first as a Fauvist` along with Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954), Andre Derain (French, 1880-1954) and others, and later as a part of the more general classification of the School of Paris as one of the great independent artists of the century.  Yet no critic could deal with this artist without a consideration of his faith.