La Francontoise 1896

Théophile Alexandre Steinlen’s “La Francontoise” is a lithograph, a printmaking process using a flat stone or metal plate. The design is drawn with a grease pencil, then treated with chemicals so that only the drawn parts hold ink. It's an ingenious translation of drawing into a repeatable image. Lithography was a key technology in the 19th century, enabling mass production of images for newspapers, posters, and advertisements. Here, the image is rendered in delicate lines and subtle shading, giving it a sketch-like quality. Steinlen, known for his social commentary, often depicted working-class life, and this print is no exception. We see a family, perhaps facing hardship. The printing press that made images like this so accessible was also changing the social landscape. So, next time you see a print, remember that it's not just an image, but a product of ingenuity, labor, and social change, blurring the lines between art, craft, and industrial production.