The Exit

Swiss-born artist Félix Vallotton was known for boldly graphic images that depicted—often satirically—the lives of the Parisian bourgeoisie. He used this style, which featured flat planes of black and white, to produce both woodcuts and illustrations for popular journals. This drawing was reproduced in an 1894 issue of the popular arts and culture weekly Le Courrier Français. It depicts a sea of top-hat-clad men and veiled women departing a Parisian theater, probably the Odéon, with a sense of chaos that belies their formal attire. Like many of his time, Vallotton was interested in the psychology of crowds and the impact of urban life on the inhabitants of modern cities like Paris.