La Cigale et la Fourmi (The Grasshopper and the Ant)
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Illustration for the Fable of La Fontaine (1838)
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Camille Corot (ca. 1865)
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Gustave Doré (1868)
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Jules Lefebvre (1872)
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Anonymous Illustration (late 19th C.)
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Victor Emile Prouvé (1885)
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Paul Gauguin (1889)
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Edouard Bisson (1890)
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Albert Maignan (ca. 1890)
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E. Merville (ca. 1890)
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Frederick Arthur Bridgman (late 19th C.)
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Alexandre-Jacques Chantron (late 19th C.)
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René Mège du Malmont (late 19th C.)
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Léon Perrault (1893)
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E. Phosty (1895)
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James McNeill Whistler (1898)
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Alice Pike Barney (1900)
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Jan van Beers (ca. 1900)
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Robert Lewis Reid (ca. 1900)
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Albert Joseph Penot (1901)
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Edward Steichen (1906)
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Pierre Carrier Belleuse (1908)
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Maurice Leloir (1910)
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Dominique Mille (2000s)
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Christine Oster after Lefebvre (2000s)
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Marco Battaglini after Lefebvre (2000s)
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La Fontaine’s fable The Grasshopper and the Ant alludes to the fate of one who (like a grasshopper) sings all summer instead of preparing (like an ant) for the hardships of winter. At the end of the 19th century La Cigale had become a metaphor for the beautiful bohème: a performer or a prostitute, one who lives with no thought for the future.
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