Petit, Alfred Le

France, (1841-1909)

  • Alfred Le Petit - Les cochons à l'étable

  • Les cochons à l’étable

  • [Pigs in a barn]
  • (1898), lithograph on paper

  • Alfred Le Petit - Le marché aux cochons #6

  • Le marché aux cochons #6

  • [The pig market #6]
  • (1898), lithograph on paper

  • Alfred Le Petit - La toilette funèbre #2

  • La toilette funèbre #2

  • [The toilette for the funeral]
  • (1898), lithograph on paper

  • Alfred Le Petit - Le dépecage #2

  • Le dépecage #2

  • [Butchering #2]
  • (1898), lithograph on paper

  • Alfred Le Petit - Un charcutier

  • Un charcutier

  • [The pork butcher]
  • (1898), lithograph on paper

  • Editor’s Note:

    The five lithographs above are all from: Le Cochon, souvenirs de Normandie : 60 magnifiques gravures et dessins humoristiques
    [The Pig, memories of Normandy: 60 beautiful engravings and cartoons]. Paris: Félix Juven (1898).

  • Alfred Le Petit -

  • Le porc des Tuileries: “Adieu, mon étoile!”

  • [The pig of the Tuileries: ‘Farewell, my star!’]
  • (1870), hand-colored lithograph on paper
    from: La Charge, 7 May 1870.

  • Editor’s Note:

    This is a satirical print depicts Napoleon III (1808-1873) represented as a pig. He looks out at the Arc de Triomphe from the Tuileries Palace, possibly as he considers how to counter the mounting power of Prussia, a decision that resulted in the Franco-Prussian War and his capture by the Prussians at the Battle of Sedan.

About the Artist:

Alfred Le Petit (1841-1909), was a French painter, cartoonist and photographer. He also used the pseudonyms Corporal and Alfred the Great and spent a good deal of his life lampooning and criticizing political figures of the time.

After studied drawing, painting and photography, he began cartooning in Rouen, then in Paris contributing to La Lune and L’Éclipse. In 1870, he founded La Charge, a periodical that attacked Napoleon III with ferocity. Later he also founded the publications Le Pétard and Le Sans-Culotte, these also focused on political commentary of the ruling powers.

Political commentary can be costly. Le Pitit ended his life quite miserable by making caricatures for tourists on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower and singing in cabarets, accompanying himself on the violin. [DES-02/16]

Additional information: