Artwork Page for Lithographic Sketches: It is the End of the World! (frontispiece)

Details / Information for Lithographic Sketches: It is the End of the World! (frontispiece)

Series Title: Croquis lithographiques

Lithographic Sketches: It is the End of the World! (frontispiece)

1824

Nicolas Toussaint Charlet

(French, 1792–1845)
published by

Gihaut

Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
lithograph
Support
Medium weight wove paper
Measurements
Image: 20.1 x 15.7 cm (7 15/16 x 6 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Anonymous gift in honor of John Bonebrake 1997.228
Catalogue raisonné
Béraldi, vol. IV, p. 124, no. 9
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

The museum's extensive collection of early lithography documents the development of the technique in Europe. Invented by a German, Alois Senefelder (1771-1834), in 1798 for commercial purposes, lithography was quickly adopted by artists. Lithography did not begin in France until 1816, however, when two workshops were established in Paris. By 1824 so many lithographs were being produced that a deluge of lithographic albums could end the world!
A vertically oriented print in black ink on off-white paper depicts a round, light-skinned man in checkered clothing walking toward our right over ground littered with books. He holds a tattered umbrella and a hat filled with coins while carrying a chair and a drum with a central tear on his back. Books labeled "Album" swirl in the air. Text at bottom reads "C'est la fin du monde!" and "1824" appears upper right.

Lithographic Sketches: It is the End of the World! (frontispiece)

1824

Nicolas Toussaint Charlet, Gihaut

(French, 1792–1845)
France, 19th century

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