Madame! ... un billet de bal
Paul Gavarni
(French, 1804–1866)
Madame! […] un billet de bal, pour un baiser de vous... (Madame! […] a dance ticket in exchange for a kiss...), 1842
Lithograph
Gift of Eugene L. Garbaty, 1951.79.110
A man accosts a lorette in the street, offering her a ticket to a masked ball in exchange for a kiss. The commercial nature of this exchange links the lorette to the prostitute.
Madame ! ... madame ! ... un billet de bal, pour un baiser de vous ... madame ! ... moins cher qu'au bureau !
Madame! … Madame! … a dance ticket in exchange for a kiss… Madame! … cheaper than at the ticket office!