Houses of Brennen [?]

A cluster of old half-timbered houses in a French town, with townspeople gathered in the street below.

In Houses of Brenen, J. André Smith turns his attention to the old domestic architecture of provincial France. At the center of the composition stands a tall half-timbered house, its exposed wooden framework set into pale plaster walls beneath a steep, sagging tiled roof and a single brick chimney. Neighboring houses crowd in on either side, with jutting dormers, shuttered windows and roofs set at irregular angles. Signs of everyday work fill the scene: ladders lean against the walls, a coil of rope hangs beside the doorway, and a barrel stands at right. Small groups of figures, including women in long dresses and a child, pause and talk in the uneven street, while others with a cart appear in the shadows at left. Smith renders the timbers, tiles and paving with careful, detailed line work, creating a warm and closely observed portrait of a French town and the people who lived in it. Like his Venetian views, the print reflects the traditional architectural etching of his early career.