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Lithograph by Gavarni
from Le Charivari - LES LORETTES
Antique Lithographs printed on newsprint
with text on reverse as published in Le Charivari.
These prints come from the series entitled "Les Lorettes" published around 1840. (See below for more about Les Lorettes - "The Tarts" )
Plate # 17
About Paul Gavarni
Gavarni was the pseudonym of Paul Sulpice Guillaume
Chevalier (1804–66) a prolific French caricaturist
and lithographer. One of the most popular artists
of the 19th Century, Gavarni first became known
for his amusing fashion drawings, which appeared
in La Mode.
Gavarni led the classic bohemian lifestyle
that he so often depicted in his work, drinking,
dancing and socializing into the Paris night.
He developed close friendships with many other
leading artists and writers of his time including
Honoré Balzac, Charles Dickens and William
Makepeace Thackeray. His works were collected
by Queen Victoria, as well as by Edgar Degas
and Vincent Van Gogh and influenced the work
of the the American artist James McNeil Whistler.
At one time he was known as the "most elegant
man in France."
Gavarni's many-year collaboration with the popular magazine Le Charivari
- to which Daumier and other caricaturists of the day also contributed -
represented the pinnacle of his career. Working continuously from 1838 to 1844
he produced over 900 prints illustrating Parisian life with great wit, charm
and satire.
But Gavarni also had a serious side. In 1847 he spent a year in London, turning
his back on London high society which courted him, in favor of the impoverished
milieus around Whitechapel whose residents he depicted in some of his best work.
Les Lorettes
The French term lorette describes a kind of respectable kept woman. The area south of Pigalle, near Notre Dame de Lorette, where Gavarni lived, was home to many such women who had been installed in apartments by wealthy gentlemen. "Les Lorettes" - one of the artists's most famous series - captures humerous vignettes from these women's lives.
Dimensions: 10 X 14 inches
Condition:
Printed on newsprint with text on reverse as published in Le Charivari circa 1844. Newsprint on back is visible through the light weight paper. Some spotting at edges and light creasing. Text is quite faded. Sheet is worn and a little blurry.
Lithograph signed in reverse in the stone.
Price: $35
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