The Balloon (1862). Lithograph by French artist Edouard Manet (1832-1883) of a balloon flight taking place in Paris,France,on 15 August 1862. Balloon flights were a popular public entertainment of the time,with these festivities marking the French national holiday of the Feast of the Assumption. The ascent here was by the balloonist Madame Poitevin. Details drawn from life by Manet include banners,maypoles,pantomime booths,and a crippled beggar in the foreground. Manet,normally a painter,did not usually produce lithographs,but had been asked to do so as part of a campaign to promote the technique |