Lutteurs (The Wrestlers), from "Le Monde Illustré"
Engraver Auguste Joliet French
After an intermediary drawing by Etienne Bocourt French
After Alexandre Falguière French
Not on view
Falguière had worked mainly as a sculptor—he won the prix de Rome for sculpture in 1859—before submitting "Lutteurs," as his first major canvas to the Salon in 1875, earning a second class medal for the work. Critics were split in their opinions of the painting according to their position relative to realism; some saw the subject as unworthy, while others saw it as representative of modern life. This wood engraving published in "Le Monde Illustré" is representative of how major artworks at the annual Salon circulated visually among a public that may or may not have visited the exhibition in person.
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