At the Exhibition 1891

This is ‘At the Exhibition’ by Georges Hermann Rene Paul, an impression printed on paper. The artist is working within a well-established printmaking tradition, yet the aesthetic is modern. It relies on a flat, graphic style with little shading or three-dimensional modeling. The print's appearance is influenced by the woodcut tradition of Japanese Ukiyo-e prints, as is its emphasis on strong outlines and blocks of color. It was made using a color lithographic process. This requires the artist to prepare a separate stone or plate for each color, building the image layer by layer. While it lacks the deep impression of some other printmaking techniques, lithography allowed artists to create multiple copies of an image quickly and relatively cheaply. This made art more accessible to a wider audience, at a time when printmaking was closely tied to advertising and mass media. The final composition blurs the boundaries between fine art and commercial illustration.