Ghosts of the Asylum from Charenton
1965, published 1966
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
one from a portfolio of 15 lithographs (including title page, table of contents, and colophon) on Nacre paper
Dimensions
image: 41.3 x 60.5 cm (16 1/4 x 23 13/16 in.) sheet: 57.8 x 77.8 cm (22 3/4 x 30 5/8 in.)
Classification
Portfolio
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Dorothy J. and Benjamin B. Smith
Accession Number
1983.18.434.6
Art Historical Context
**Ghosts of the Asylum Charenton** is a striking lithograph by Mexican artist José Luis Cuevas created in 1965 and published in 196 as part of a portfolio of 15 works on luxurious Nacre paper. Cuevas, a leading figure in Mexico's post-muralist "Ruptura" generation was renowned for his neo-figurative styleraw, grotesque, and unflinchingly satirical. Drawing inspiration from historical sites of confinement like Charenton Asylum (infamous for housing the Marquis de Sade), piece evokes the spectral remnants of madness and institutional horror, blending dark humor with social critique. Printed in ...