The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 22, 2025
A Basement Shop in Cracow
1898
(French, 1864–1901)
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.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1950.594
Catalogue raisonné: Wittrock Vol.II.196 ; Delteil 243
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.- Fairy Tales and Fables: Illustration and Storytelling in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 4-September 8, 2024).Prints by Toulouse-Lautrec and Bonnard. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 3, 1985-March 2, 1986).
- {{cite web|title=A Basement Shop in Cracow|url=false|author=Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec|year=1898|access-date=22 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1950.594