An Auction of Enslaved People in Richmond, from "Le Monde Illustré"
March 23, 1861
Medium
Wood engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 10 1/16 × 14 1/2 in. (25.5 × 36.8 cm) Image: 8 3/4 × 12 5/8 in. (22.2 × 32 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Donato Esposito, 2018
Accession Number
2018.614.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the stark wood engraving *An Auction of Ensl People in Richmond*, published in the French weekly *Le Monde Illustré* March 23, 1861, artist Edmond Morinafter Bourcier) captures a harrowing scene from America's domestic slave trade. Rendered in intricate black-and-white lines typical of 19th-century wood engraving technique prized for its precision and suitability for mass reproduction in illustrated periodicals—the image measures about 9 by 13 inches and depicts men, women, children, and even dogs gathered at a public auction block in Richmond, Virginia, a notorious hub for such sales. Thi...
About the Artist
Edmond Morin|Bourcier · 1824–1882
Edmond Morin (1824-1882) was a French painter, illustrator, and printmaker whose prolific career spanned both fine art and popular illustration, though he remained disappointed by greater recognition for his commercial work than his paintings. Born in Le Havre, Morin studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Charles Gleyre before spending eight formative years in London (1849-1857), where...