Blind Man's Bluff

1897

Blind Man's Bluff, 1897. Alexandre Lunois (French, 1863–1916), Auguste Clot (French, 1858–1936). Color lithograph; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Elizabeth Carroll Shearer 2016.218 This print depicts a group of women enjoying blind man's bluff, a children's game in which one player is blindfolded and spun around before attempting to locate their companions by listening for their voices. The group gathers in a landscaped park, one of numerous sites for public leisure available to Parisians during the late 19th century. Lunois used vivid tones, such as green and yellow, to evoke the brightness of natural light. He relied upon his expertise in color lithography, a medium previously used for commercial printing, such as posters and booklets, that grew in popularity among artists during the 1890s. Alexandre Lunois began his career as a printmaker copying the works of other artists, but began to make his own original lithographs using his professional training around the time this work was made.