Women of Montmartre, from "The Graphic," vol. 3

Arthur Boyd Houghton

June 10, 1871 · Wood engraving · Drawings and Prints

Women participated in the Paris Commune in great numbers, especially in the working-class neighborhood of Montmartre. Houghton’s illustration, which appeared in "The Graphic" in June and "Harper’s Weekly" in July of 1871, shows a group of women marching under a flag that reads "The Commune or Death." The accompanying article states: "In the present revolution the women have shown themselves almost worthy of their sisters of 1792–93." It is more generally critical of the "Amazons of the Commune," however, describing them as "coarse, brawny, unwomanly, and degraded; picturesque certainly, but by no means pleasing."

Artist

Arthur Boyd Houghton

Date

June 10, 1871

Medium

Wood engraving

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928