Pastimes
1831
Medium
Lithograph in black on cream wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 26.6 × 23.2 cm (10 1/2 × 9 3/16 in.); Sheet: 36.2 × 27.5 cm (14 5/16 × 10 7/8 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
117980
Art Historical Context
Created in 1831 by French artist Victor Jean Adam, *Pastimes* exemplifies the early flourishing of lithography as a fine-art medium. Just a few decades after its invention, lithography offered artists an expressive way to draw directly on stone, yielding rich tonal contrasts and fluid lines that could be printed in multiple impressions. Printed in black on cream wove paper, this work captures the spontaneous, velvety quality that made the technique especially appealing to Romantic-era audiences. Measuring roughly ten by nine inches in the image area, the print invites close looking while rema...