id:			170046
accession number:	2012.271
share license status:	Copyrighted
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2012.271
updated:		2023-01-19 15:29:30.329000

Ten Assassinations for a Penny, 1897. Théophile Alexandre Steinlen (Swiss, 1859–1923). Lithograph; sheet: 60.6 x 46.5 cm (23 7/8 x 18 5/16 in.); image: 60.6 x 46.5 cm (23 7/8 x 18 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of John Bonebrake 2012.271

title:				Ten Assassinations for a Penny
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1897
creation date earliest:		1897
creation date latest:		1897
current location:		
creditline:			Bequest of John Bonebrake
copyright:			

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culture:	Switzerland, 19th century
technique:	lithograph
department:	Prints
collection:	PR - Lithograph
type:		Print
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: Cate and Gill 45

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CREATORS

* Théophile Alexandre Steinlen (Swiss, 1859–1923)  - artist

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measurements: Sheet: 60.6 x 46.5 cm (23 7/8 x 18 5/16 in.); Image: 60.6 x 46.5 cm (23 7/8 x 18 5/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	50

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	in pencil, lower left margin: No 41/50
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		A Passion for Prints: The John Bonebrake Donation
	opening date:   2011-10-02T00:00:00
	<i>A Passion for Prints: The John Bonebrake Donation</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 2, 2011-January 29, 2012).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
Nineteenth-century French lithographs, including Steinlen’s charged political images, offer wide-ranging documentation of the life at the time. In 1881 France passed a law granting freedom of the press, resulting in numerous magazines of humor and social criticism. An advocate for the poor, the downtrodden, and the working classes, Steinlen contributed artwork to journals linked to the leftist movement, such as the anarchist publication <em>La feuille</em> (The Newspaper), in which <em>Ten Assassinations for a Penny</em> was reproduced. Steinlen’s illustrations for <em>La feuille</em> comment satirically on the articles written by Zo d’Axa, the editor-in-chief. A sense of gloom and violence that parallels the pessimism of the writing permeates the somber images. Marked by strong contrasts of black and white, <em>Ten Assassinations for a Penny</em> has an unsettling, even frightening quality intended to shock the reader into acknowledging the deep-seated problems in French society.
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