Saint-Jean-de-Monts

Auguste Lepère was one of the leading printmakers of his time. He is best known for his takes on urban life in Paris, but he often escaped the city in the summer. One of his favorite destinations was Saint-Jean-de-Monts, a town on France’s Atlantic coast. The area is much more built up now than in 1907, but one landmark in the drawing still stands: the steeple of the Church of St. John the Baptist, seen above the horizon toward the right side of the drawing. In Lepère’s time, the town was a haven for beach-going vacationers and artists. St. Paul native Harry Drake, an avid supporter of the arts and education, left more than 800 works of art to Mia. Of these, more than 100 were by Lepère, a favorite of Drake’s.