Tigre royal

About this artwork

height 317 mm x width 488 mm

Art Historical Context

**Tigre Royal by Victor Adam (1843–1844)** Victor Adam, a prominent French lithographer of the Romantic era (1801–1865), the majestic power of a royal tiger in this striking print. Created between 1843 and 1844, *Tigre Royal* measures 317 mm high by 488 mm wide, making it an accessible yet impressive wall piece for 19th-century homes. Adam's work often celebrated the wild beauty of animals, reflecting Europe's growing fascination with exotic wildlife amid colonial expeditions and expanding zoos like Paris's Jardin des Plantes. Lithography, Adam's favored medium, revolutionized art reproduction during this period. This technique—drawing with greasy crayon on a polished limestone slab—allowed for rich tonal gradations and intricate details, far surpassing earlier print methods. The tiger's fierce gaze and muscular form likely showcase Adam's skill in conveying drama and realism, blending Romantic intensity with precise observation. Culturally, *Tigre Royal* embodies mid-19th-century curiosity about the natural world, evoking imperial adventures in Asia where such "royal" tigers roamed. As an affordable print, it brought the thrill of the untamed to everyday audiences, bridging fine art and popular culture in pre-photographic France. A testament to lithography's golden age! (198 words)

About the Artist

Victor Adam · 1801–1866

Victor Adam was born in Paris in 1801 and built a prolific and commercially successful career as one of the leading lithographers and illustrators of nineteenth-century France. He received a conventional academic training in painting, but it was the new medium of lithography — still in its first decades of widespread use when Adam came of age — that provided the ideal vehicle for his gifts: a faci...