Rare. There are examples of each of the prints in the BnF but we have not traced any others.
A very fine pair of French satirical prints highlighting the vast divide between rich and poor during the Continental Blockades of the Napoleonic Wars.
Jean Qui Rit shows a man in three quarter length seated in a chair. Well-dressed in breeches, shirt, cravat and waistcoat he rests his right hand on his round belly and points out of the window with his left. The laughing man is sat in a lavishly decorated room; the arms of his chair are carved in the shape of a swan’s necks, the corner of a painting can be seen over his shoulder (showing an abundant cornucopia), tasselled curtains hang over large windows and the corner of a chest on the left is loaded with sacks of cash.
Jean qui Pleure shows a man seated at a small writing table in a garret. His unruly hair stands on end, his face wears an expression of anxiety and exhaustion, he clasps his hands together. The lapels and cuffs of his frock coat are torn, his britches are un-buttoned at the knee and his un-gartered stockings roll down his shins. A bundle of papers at his desk sit under an inkwell and quill. The top paper reads ‘Drame en 5 actes. Le crime at la vengeance ou le brigard de la Calabre’ [Drama in 5 acts. Crime and revenge, or the bandit of Calabria.]. The first of another stack that folds over the table ledge reads, ‘Au premiere acte une Chaumiere bone de gazon […] le Latin. Foret on entend […] pour un melodeame de ferie’ [In the first act, a turf-covered cottage […] Latin. In the forest, we hear […] for a fairy melody]. Above the table a window without glass cut into the building’s eaves shows a glimpse of other roof-tops and chimneys. On the far wall a bookshelf holds a couple of books a rat and torn papers reading: ‘Reflesions d’un dessomate sur les arts’, ‘L’art de vivre Econn[…]’.
In this pair of prints, “Jean qui rit” embodies the well-fed profiteer, while “Jean qui pleure” represents the impoverished dramatist in tattered clothes, emaciated by hunger. Placed side by side, “Jean qui rit” appears to point out of his window at “Jean qui pleure”, his satisfaction enriched by the misfortune of the other.
The Continental Blockades of the Napoleonic Wars were intended to to support French industry and commercial power by blocking imports from the British Empire. The blockade was put in place between November 1806 and April 1814 and massively hit the French economy and lead to high inflation and rising food prices. The two prints here show how the wealthy were in many way insulated against this depression and were even able to profit by it, while the poor (including the classic writer in his garret, as here) were left in a challenging position and forced to economise.
These caricatures of the wealthy bourgeois and the starving artist were created by the engraver Piere Michel Alix (1762 -1817). He studied under Jaques Philippe Le Bas who ran the largest engraving workshop in France during the eighteenth century and went on to be known for his images of the figures of the French revolution. These included prints of the members of the National Constituent Assembly, Voltaire, Helvetius and Rousseau among others.
