Man wearing an apron and a hat 1820 - 1866

Victor Adam created this drawing of a man wearing an apron and a hat in nineteenth-century France. Adam was known for his lithographs depicting military and genre subjects, capturing the everyday life of Parisians. Here, the image depicts a man in working clothes who appears to be on the margins of society. Although we can't know his profession for sure, the apron suggests he's a manual laborer. We see him at a slight remove, as if through the eyes of an observer, which creates a certain distance. The image offers insight into the laboring classes, whose lives changed drastically during the Industrial Revolution in France. To understand this drawing more fully, scholars turn to sources such as social histories of 19th-century Paris, visual culture, and the history of printmaking. Studying such works in context reveals how art reflects and shapes social realities.