Emma and Her Baby, Chelsea Embankment

For many of his earliest etchings Roussel used small copper plates and focused on Chelsea scenes, conveying a clear sense of place while often presenting affectionate portraits of the neighborhood’s youngest residents. In this example, a nursemaid with her charge stands in front of Chelsea Embankment’s characteristic railings, with Battersea factories across the Thames River. Roussel employed a shorthand drawing style, almost caricature, to portray his figures.