Life — June 27, 1907 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

The main illustration depicts an artist painting a portrait of a young woman in a ballet costume. The caption reads: "HOW ARTIST POTBOILÈRE SAVES THE PRICE OF A MODEL FOR HIS BALLET GIRL." The satire targets artistic dishonesty: rather than paying for a live model, the artist uses a pre-existing portrait or painting as his reference, merely copying it onto canvas. "Potboilère" is French slang for a hack artist who produces commercial work for money rather than art for art's sake. This mocks both the economic pressures on struggling artists and the ethical shortcuts they take—essentially cheating by avoiding model fees while still claiming to create original work. The joke assumes readers understand the expectation that serious artists work from live subjects, making this practice particularly contemptible.