Oil on cardboard, 1905, signed and dated at lower left, retaining antique labels to verso, presented in a wood frame.

Panel 19 x 39 1/8 in.; Frame dimensions 25 x 45 in.

Amedée Julien Marcel-Clément was born in Paris and made his exhibiting debut at the Salon de la Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1903. He continued to exhibit there and at the Salon des Indépendants for many years. Between 1913 and 1914 he exhibited in England at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool and at the Royal Scottish Academy. Marcel-Clément was able to capture a grand subject with minimal effort using a very natural palette, simplified forms, and abstracted surfaces. His works have also been admired for his ability to place the viewer in the painting, as a participant in the scene. Examples of his work are in many leading public collections, including the Musée du Petit-Palais in Paris and the municipal galleries in Nîmes, Strasbourg, and Tokyo.

Entitled "Repas de Prolétaires" or "Meal for Proletariats" this work comments on the economic situation in France at the time, in which working-class members turned to horse meat as a last resort when access to food was scarce.

Small puncture at lower right, wear at the edges and corners of board, slight bowing and abrasion to board; the frame with abrasions and separations at the corners.