Currently on view at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles is “Tea and Morphine,” the first large-scale exhibition of the Elisabeth Dean Collection since a 1986 exhibition at the Fresno Art Museum. Whether as angelic creatures or exotic lures, women filled the imaginations of artists and constituted the great subject of fin-de-siècle art. Those who had leisure time were depicted relaxing with an afternoon cup of tea, as seen in a Mary Cassatt etching, whereas other artists portrayed the drug addiction common to women facing harsh economic realities. These extremes, and the positions in between, set the parameters for the exhibition of approximately 100 works, which includes prints as well as rare books and ephemera (such as menus, theater programs, and music scores). This array of objects gives the exhibition an intimate quality, revealing much about how women – and men – lived their lives during a time of great social upheaval and artistic innovation

“Tea and Morphine” is on view through May 18, 2014.

For more information visit the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.