L'Hotel des Commissaires-priseurs: Les Marchands
Medium
wood engraving
Classification
Portfolio
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Arthur and Charlotte Vershbow
Accession Number
1978.82.22
Art Historical Context
This 1863 wood engraving, titled *L'Hôtel des Commissaires-priseurs: Les Marchands*, captures a lively scene inside a Paris auction house. Created by Charles Maurand after a design by Honoré Daumier, the print reflects the bustling world of 19th-century art commerce during France’s Second Empire. Daumier, renowned for his sharp social commentary, frequently turned his attention to Parisian institutions, and this work offers a glimpse into the transactions and characters that populated auction rooms of the era. Wood engraving, a precise relief technique popular in illustrated periodicals, allo...