To the True Poor: The Wicked Rich (Aux vrais pauvres: Les mauvais riches)
Medium
lithograph
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.8035
Art Historical Context
**To the True Poor: The Rich (Aux vrais pauvres: Les mauvais riches, a striking 1894 lithograph byophile Alexandre Steinlen, the artist's sharp social commentary on class disparity. Steinlen, a Swiss-born and poster artist active in fin-de-siècle Paris, was renowned for his empathetic depictions of the working poor, often infused with a socialist fervor. This print, part of the National Gallery of Art's Rosen Collection, contrasts the suffering "true poor" with thegent "wicked rich," reflecting the era's growing labor unrest and inequality amid France's Belle Époque prosperity. Rendered in bo...
About the Artist
Théophile Alexandre Steinlen
Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, born on November 10, 1859, in Lausanne, Switzerland, hailed from a family with artistic roots; his grandfather, Christian Gottlieb Steinlen, was a painter and draftsman. After two years studying theology at the University of Lausanne, he trained in industrial ornamental drawing in Mulhouse under Schoenhaupt and worked as a designer trainee at a textile mill. Encourage...