The Human Comedy: Chronicles of 19th-Century France

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Ah! ça, voyons, Mosieu le Baron

Paul Gavarni (French, 1804–1866) Ah! ça, voyons, Mosieu le Baron... (Oh, come on, Mister Baron...), 1853 Lithograph Gift of Eugene L. Garbaty, 1951.79.199

Gavarni’s prints differ from Daumier’s in their highly literary captions, written by Gavarni him-self. Daumier’s bluestockings, for example, are visually ugly and deformed, while Gavarni’s lorettes are elegant and charming. Their duplicity and materialistic instincts are revealed, not in their facial features, but in their often biting and sarcastic words.

— Ah ! ça, voyons, Mosieu le Baron, que diable voulez-vous qu'on en fasse, de votre confiance, si l'on n'en abuse pas ?

—Oh, come on, Mister Baron, what the devil do you want me to do with your trust, if not abuse it?