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The Exodus--1915 [L’exode – 1915]

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen French, born Switzerland
1915
Not on view
Steinlen, who moved to Paris from Brussels in 1881, had a lifelong concern with the plight of the working class and marginalized populations. The subject of displaced people appears frequently in his wartime work. Between 1914 and 1915 nearly two hundred thousand refugees fled Belgium; this print, also called The March of the Orphans, depicts an exodus after a German attack. A stoic mother holding an infant leads a sea of children. Individualized subjects in the foreground give way to faceless figures in the background, which Steinlen suggests with quick, sweeping lines that blend into the vast horizon. The mother’s eyes fixate with strength and despondence on the distant unknown, while the children’s expressions remain ambiguous and unsure. The landscape behind them is suggestive of their displacement and migration from home.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Exodus--1915 [L’exode – 1915]
  • Artist: Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (French (born Switzerland), Lausanne 1859–1923 Paris)
  • Date: 1915
  • Medium: Lithograph
  • Dimensions: Image: 18 7/8 × 16 1/8 in. (48 × 41 cm)
    Sheet: 25 11/16 × 19 13/16 in. (65.3 × 50.3 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Edward C. Moën, 1960
  • Object Number: 60.593.16
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Sketch of Two Groups Fighting, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen French, born Switzerland, Blue crayon on buff wove paper, impressed with woven texture
Sketch of Two Groups Fighting
Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
ca. 1905–6
Les Miséreaux (Study for Dans la Vie), Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen French, born Switzerland, Black chalk tinted with colored chalks
Les Miséreaux (Study for Dans la Vie)
Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
ca. 1901
Les Plus Jolies Contes
Multiple artists/makers
1903
Veuves d'un Louis
Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
1915
Temps d'Orage, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen French, born Switzerland, Etching; second state of three
Temps d'Orage
Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
ca. 1913

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