The Tailor, from Arts et Métiers
1838
Medium
Lithograph in black on buff wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 13.7 × 12.5 cm (5 7/16 × 4 15/16 in.); Sheet: 36.4 × 26.8 cm (14 3/8 × 10 9/16 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
39985
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
Bernard Gaillot’s *The Tailor*, created in 1838, belongs to the series *Arts et Métiers*, which celebrates the skilled trades that sustained nineteenth-century French society. Executed as a lithograph in black on buff wove paper, the print captures the quiet concentration of a craftsman at work, reflecting the era’s growing interest in documenting everyday professions amid rapid industrialization. Lithography, a relatively new medium at the time, allowed artists to produce affordable, finely detailed images that reached wide audiences. Gaillot’s modest yet precise rendering highlights both the dignity of manual labor and the democratic potential of printmaking, transforming a simple workshop scene into an enduring record of cultural and economic life. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Department of Prints and Drawings, this small yet evocative sheet invites viewers to appreciate the artistry behind ordinary trades and the technical innovations that brought them to light.
About the Artist
Bernard Gaillot · 1780–1847
**Bernard Gaillot (1780–1847)** Born in Versailles on 17 February 1780, Bernard Gaillot emerged as a prominent French historical painter during the transition from Neoclassicism to Romanticism. Little is known of his early life beyond his birthplace near the royal palace, but by 1795 he had settled in Paris, where he studied under the masterful Jacques-Louis David, the leading exponent of Neoclas...