Vive la France, Marchands de "Tableaux" se Preparant pour la Vente Publique / Picture "Dealers" Preparing for "Auction"
1840
Medium
Lithograph, hand colored
Dimensions
sheet: 14 1/16 x 10 11/16 in. (35.7 x 27.2 cm) image: 8 1/16 x 11 in. (20.4 x 27.9 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Edward W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps and Pictures, Bequest of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954
Accession Number
54.90.1083
Tags
Art Historical Context
Alfred E. Baker's *Vive la France,ands de "Tableaux se Préparant pour la Ventelique / Picture "Deal" Preparing for "Auction (1840) is a hand-colored lithograph that captures the bustling chaos of the 19th-century art market with sharp wit. Created as a satirical print, it depicts merchants—likely French auctioneers, given the ironic "Vive la France" cry—frantically preparing paintings for public sale. The scene teems with boys, men and female nudes, poking fun at the trade's underbelly, where artworks (and their often risqué subjects) are handled like commodities. Lithography, a revolutionary...