Polin, from Le Café-Concert 1893

Henri-Gabriel Ibels made this lithograph, "Polin, from Le Café-Concert," using a relatively straightforward process. Lithography is a printmaking technique where an image is drawn on a flat stone or metal plate with a greasy substance. The stone is then treated so that the ink adheres only to the drawn areas. This process allows for a directness in mark-making, seen in the lively strokes that define Polin's form. The lithographic process is interesting because it sits between the hand-made and the mechanically reproduced. While each print is made using a machine, the image originates from the artist's hand. This tension is key to understanding the print’s social context, because it was originally created for a publication. Therefore, it exists as a commentary on the world of entertainment and celebrity, crafted using a medium that was itself becoming increasingly democratized. This combination of artistic skill and mechanical reproduction allowed Ibels to disseminate his image of Polin to a wider audience, blurring the lines between high art and popular culture.