Les Partageuses: Thursday you dined at Vachette's

Art Historical Context

In the Prints and Drawings department of the Institute of Chicago, Paularni's 1853 lithograph *Les Partageuses: Thursday you dined at Vtte's* captures the witty, satirical spirit of mid-19th Parisian life. Rendered in black ink on cream wove paper, the intimate image measures just 19.2 × 16.1 cm, while the full sheet spans 36 × 27.8 cm—perfect for affordable distribution in journals and albums. Gavarni, a leading French caricaturist (1804–1866), excelled in lithography, a technique pioneered in the early 1800s that allowed artists to draw directly on stone for crisp, reproducible lines and subtle tones. This print belongs to his *Les Partageuses* series, poking fun at the city's demi-monde—fashionable women, possibly courtesans, "sharing" lovers with cheeky schedules. The caption nods to Vachette's, a real Latin Quarter restaurant popular among bohemians, evoking the era's vibrant café culture under the early Second Empire. Through Gavarni's keen eye for social mores and fashion, the work offers a window into 1850s Paris, blending humor with sharp observation. Its mass-produced format made such commentary accessible, influencing later illustrators and preserving fleeting urban follies for us today.

About the Artist

Paul Gavarni · 1804–1866

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...