Ah Ben!... 1841

Edmé Jean Pigal made this lithograph, “Ah Ben!…”, which belongs to a series called “Popular Customs of Lille”. Here, Pigal evokes the culture of the northern French city through its distinctive class relations. We see a well-to-do man of the bourgeoisie confronting what we might call a 'street urchin'. Pigal lays out a visual vocabulary of class: the bourgeois man is taller, has shoes, and offers a patronizing gesture. The 'urchin' is smaller, wears wooden clogs, and seems ashamed, holding his hand to his chest. Institutions play a large role here, and not just in the dynamic of charity that’s represented. The 'Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lille' was founded at the beginning of the nineteenth century. This print hints at how the project of art, as it was imagined in Lille, might mediate social difference and also make that difference visible. To understand this print better, we might consult the archives of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lille. Understanding the conditions in which art is produced, exhibited, and consumed is key to understanding its meaning.