Masks and faces
1857–58
Medium
Lithograph in black on light gray China paper, laid down on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 20.2 × 16 cm (8 × 6 5/16 in.); Chine: 22.9 × 18.9 cm (9 1/16 × 7 1/2 in.); Sheet: 38.9 × 20.5 cm (15 3/8 × 8 1/8 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
11032
Art Historical Context
**Masks and Faces** Paul Gavarni, created between 1857 and 1858, invites visitors into the witty world of mid-19th-century Frenchmaking. This lithograph printed in black ink on delicate light gray China paper and laid down on ivory w paper, measures a compact image of 20.2 × 16 cm. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints Drawings department, it exemplifies Gavarni's mastery of lithography—a revolutionary technique invented in the late 18th century allowed artists to draw directly on stone for fluid, expressive lines and subtle tones, perfect for reproducing intricate details affordably...
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...