The Poacher

Hunting has long been strictly controlled in France, and this individual has placed himself at legal risk. The poacher fires a double-barreled shotgun, suggesting that he is after small game—likely for food. He appears to wear sabots (wooden shoes), which were traditional rural footwear at the time. Beginning in 1892, Auguste Lepère spent his summers in Saint-Jean-de-Monts, a town near the Atlantic Ocean. He is said to have drawn this scene directly on the woodblock while seated on the dunes above the town. He would have cut the block after returning to his studio.