Vrouw bekijkt prenten achter een bureau 1899

Eugène Gaujean made this print of an upper class woman looking at prints in her study in 19th Century France. What can we glean about the culture of that time? The study is stuffed with books and folios, suggesting that she is an educated woman of leisure. The fashion plates hanging above the desk and the text ‘Les graveurs du XIX siecle Henri Béraldi’, suggest she is consulting the work of Henri Béraldi, a French bibliophile who wrote about 19th century printmakers. The image implies that she herself may be a collector. The art world of 19th Century France was institutionalized through the Académie des Beaux-Arts. However, there was also a growing community of private collectors, some of whom, like this woman, were independently wealthy. Access to the art world depended heavily on social class. We can use archives, auction records, and publications like Béraldi's to learn more about the collectors and artists of this period. Art history relies on social context to reveal the social structures that influenced its creation and consumption.