Sweepers

1888

Théophile Alexandre Steinlen

Associated Names
Théophile Alexandre Steinlen

Artist, Swiss, 1859 - 1923

The image shows four people walking in a line, slightly bent forward. The first person, a woman, wears a scarf, a long dress, and a coat. She carries a large broom. The second person is a bearded man wearing a hat, a long overcoat, and trousers, also carrying a broom. The third and fourth persons, both wearing hats and long coats, follow the same pattern, with the last person slightly hunched and stepping forward. They are all dressed in heavy garments. The background is sparse with a brown-toned area on the right and a textured section above that resembles a patterned sky or wall.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and black ink and blue colored pencil on wove paper, partially silhouetted and laid down on a glossy gillot board, partially printed in a reticulated design, with additions by the artist in pen and black ink and blue colored pencil

  • Credit Line

    Joseph F. McCrindle Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 31.5 x 19.8 cm (12 3/8 x 7 13/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2009.70.222

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Joseph F. McCrindle [1923-2008], New York; Joseph F. McCrindle Foundation, 2008; gift to NGA, 2009.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1982

  • Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen. The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers; Milwaukee Art Museum; Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, UCLA, 1982, 151, no. 178 (Phillip Dennis Cate and Susan Gill).

Bibliography

2012

  • Grasselli, Margaret M., and Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., eds. The McCrindle Gift: A Distinguished Collection of Drawings and Watercolors. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2012: 177 (color).

Inscriptions

by artist, lower right in pen and black ink: Steinlen; by artist, lower right in blue-colored pencil: LES BALAYEURS (2); by later hand, lower right verso in graphite: [Not deciphered] / 2500 F

Wikidata ID

Q64633127

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