Mascarade
c. 1831
Medium
lithograph
Dimensions
overall: 18.8 x 26.2 cm (7 3/8 x 10 5/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Frank Anderson Trapp
Accession Number
2002.57.22
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
**Mascarade** by Paul Gavarni, created around 1831, captures theant spirit of Parisian social life during the early years of the July Monarchy Gavarni, a master French caricaturist and illustrator (4–1866), was renowned for his witty depictions of urban fashion, theater, and nightlife. This lithograph likely evokes the lively chaos of a masquerade ball—a popular diversion in post-Revolutionary France, where anonymity allowed for flirtation, satire, and escapism amid political and social upheaval. Printed as a lithograph, the work showcases Gavarni's skill with this innovative medium, invented...
About the Artist
Paul Gavarni
Paul Gavarni, born Sulpice Guillaume Chevalier on January 13, 1804, in Paris to a cooper father from Burgundy and mother Marie-Monique Thiémet—whose brother, painter Guillaume Thiémet, served as his godfather—began his career far from the art world. As a youth, he worked in a machine factory and studied mechanical drawing at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers in 1818, followed by evening classe...