Visitekaartje van kunsthandel Achille Astre te Parijs c. 1900

This is a visiting card for the Parisian art dealer Achille Astre, made anonymously sometime in the late 19th century, likely as a lithograph. The card reflects the evolving social and cultural dynamics of Paris at the time. It lists a range of media available at the gallery from paintings and pastels to lithographs and etchings and names a list of artists including Toulouse-Lautrec. The presence of women looking at art suggests a subtle shift in gender roles, with women increasingly participating in the cultural sphere, though still within the confines of bourgeois society. While appearing progressive in its depiction of women engaging with art, the card also upholds traditional class structures. It invites us to consider the complex layers of identity and representation in a rapidly changing world. In foregrounding the art of its time, the piece asks what gets remembered, and who gets to do the remembering.