The Pleasures of the Drunkards by Jean Pelletier

The Pleasures of the Drunkards

c. 18th century

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Artwork details

Dimensions
Image: 39.6 × 54.5 cm (15 9/16 × 21 7/16 in.) Plate: 44.3 × 57 cm (17 7/16 × 22 7/16 in.) Sheet: 50.2 × 63.2 cm (19 3/4 × 24 7/8 in.)
Location
Harvard Art Museums
Copyright
CC0 1.0

About this artwork

Editor: This is "The Pleasures of the Drunkards" by Jean Pelletier. It's a print, and the Harvard Art Museums estimate Pelletier was born around 1736. The scene feels chaotic, but also kind of… still. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The print’s title seems ironic, doesn’t it? Look at the slumped figures. Pelletier seems to critique the culture of excess within a specific social stratum. How does the artist use light and shadow to convey a moral message? Editor: So, it's not just a funny scene of drunk people? It's saying something about society? Curator: Precisely. Consider the historical context. What power structures might Pelletier be subtly questioning through this depiction of revelry and its consequences? Editor: I never thought about it that way. I guess it's not just about the "pleasures." Thanks for that new perspective.

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