Zicht op het Beursgebouw in Parijs 1838

Louis-Julien Jacottet made this print of the Paris stock exchange, using a technique called lithography. It involves drawing an image with grease on a flat stone or metal plate, then treating it so that only the drawn areas hold ink. The resulting print has a distinctive look. The lines are crisp but also a bit soft, almost like a pencil drawing. It’s a process that lends itself well to depicting architectural detail, as you can see in the building’s many columns, and the surrounding cityscape. Lithography was a relatively new technology at the time, a distinctly modern method of image production. Its rise was directly tied to the growth of capitalism, as it enabled the mass production of images for advertising and documentation. The making of this image, like the building that it represents, speaks to the power of commerce, and the increasing industrialization of art itself. Ultimately, the print reminds us that even seemingly straightforward depictions of buildings are tied to wider social issues, like labor, politics, and consumption.