Mules Harnessed
n.d.
Medium
Lithograph in black on tan wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 19.3 × 25.1 cm (7 5/8 × 9 15/16 in.); Sheet: 24.2 × 31.9 cm (9 9/16 × 12 9/16 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
117978
Art Historical Context
Victor Jean Adam’s “Mules Harnessed” captures a quiet moment of labor through the expressive medium of lithography. Created on tan wove paper, the black-and-white print uses subtle tonal gradations to suggest the weight of harnesses and the sturdy forms of the animals. Though undated, the work reflects the nineteenth-century fascination with scenes of everyday rural life, rendered with a draftsman’s precision that was well suited to the lithographic process. Lithography offered artists an accessible way to reproduce detailed drawings, allowing images like this one to reach wider audiences bey...