Album of Military Drawings

c. 1820–35

Album of Military Drawings, c. 1820–35. Nicolas Toussaint Charlet (French, 1792–1845). Album of 14 drawings; black crayon heightened with white chalk, some incised with orange-red pigment rubbed on verso (for transfer) on brown or gray wove paper; album, closed: 46.4 x 33.7 cm (18 1/4 x 13 1/4 in.); each sheet: 46 x 33 cm (18 1/8 x 13 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2019.252 Nicolas Toussaint Charlet held various positions in the French military and his experiences as a soldier were the primary subject of his work. Charlet was best known as a lithographer, working in the printmaking medium in its early years, before it was widely taken up by artists. The images in this book provided inspiration for his prints, and the verso of several of the drawings features material indicating that they were transferred directly to works in other media. Nicolas Toussaint Charlet worked extensively in lithography—the medium to which these drawings relate—creating about 2,000 works using the process throughout his career.