Tramp with Bundle (Le chemineau a la besace)

Executed with drypoint—an intaglio method in which the artist incises lines directly into a metal plate—the work may also incorporate elements of etching. The artist’s rapid, scratchy strokes convey the movement of grass and the urgency of the figure’s stride, while the plate’s burr yields soft, velvety tonal areas characteristic of drypoint prints.

Created during the final year of World War I, the print reflects Steinlen’s ongoing engagement with contemporary social issues. While specific ownership records are limited, the work has appeared in several catalogues of Steinlen’s prints and is held in public collections that focus on early‑20th‑century French graphic art.

Steinlen, a Swiss‑born artist who settled in Paris, was closely linked to anarchist and socialist publications, providing illustrations that critiqued urban poverty and labor conditions. *Tramp with Bundle* aligns with this activist tradition, situating a lone wanderer within a broader commentary on the economic dislocation of the era.