The Slave Market
c. 1866 · Oil on canvas · Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.
About this work
- Artist
- Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904)
- Year
- c. 1866
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 84.6 × 63.3 cm
- Collection
- Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
- Movement
- Academic
In a sunlit courtyard a naked woman stands while a prospective buyer in green pries open her mouth to inspect her teeth, the dealer in white holds her robe, and other buyers and veiled women wait in the shadows. Gérôme painted it around 1866, probably in Paris after a journey through Egypt and the Near East, and it was sold at once to the dealer Goupil, who reproduced it widely. It became the defining image of nineteenth-century Orientalism and of its contradictions: a polished, photographic surface, a claim to document a world the painter had not actually witnessed, and a nude presented for the viewer's inspection as much as the buyer's. Sterling and Francine Clark bought it in 1930 and it is in the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, which has repeatedly objected to its use in political campaigns.
This full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A sunlit courtyard with a nude woman examined by robed men, in white, green and ochre, a contentious Orientalist painting for a study, library or hallway at 24×32 in black. Stone, terracotta or deep green walls suit it; pair it with Pygmalion and Galatea.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Academic painting
- Era
- 19th century (c. 1866)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×32. Prints at 12×16, 18×24, 24×32 in — 12×16 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 18×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×32 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or dark wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing. Also available gallery-wrapped on canvas, ready to hang with no frame.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Slave Market in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Slave Market painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
