Artwork Page for A Basement Shop in Cracow

Details / Information for A Basement Shop in Cracow

Series Title: At the Foot of Mt. Sinai, Au pied du Sinaï

A Basement Shop in Cracow

1898
(French, 1864–1901)
Measurements
Image: 17.5 x 14.4 cm (6 7/8 x 5 11/16 in.); Sheet: 33 x 23.5 cm (13 x 9 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Catalogue raisonné
Wittrock Vol.II.196 ; Delteil 243
State
W. I/I ; D. I/I
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view

Description

At the Foot of Mount Sinai by politician and journalist Georges Clemenceau collects six short stories about the lives of Jewish characters in the Poland of his time. As he worked on the commission to illustrate the book, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec spent many hours sketching Russian and Polish Jews living in the Tournelle district in Paris, using them as inspiration for his depiction of Clemenceau’s characters, including the Jewish officer in the Russian army and the poor shopkeeper. The book was written and released during France’s Dreyfus affair, a political controversy surrounding false accusations of treason and espionage against Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus. Clemenceau supported Dreyfus and, as editor of the newspaper L’Aurore (Dawn), published several articles defending him.
A lithograph in energetic, sketchy lines depicts an older man with light skin tone seated in a dark, arched opening. He has a long white beard and wears a brimmed hat and light-colored coat. To our left, a small black cat sits on the ground facing him. Dense hatching defines a textured stone wall to our right, while the area to our left remains light and loosely sketched in the background.

A Basement Shop in Cracow

1898

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

(French, 1864–1901)
France, 19th century

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