Background
Paul Garvarni was born on January 13, 1804 in Paris, France. He was a son of Sulpice Chevalier and Marie-Monique Thiémet.
caricaturist draftsman illustrator lithographer
Paul Garvarni was born on January 13, 1804 in Paris, France. He was a son of Sulpice Chevalier and Marie-Monique Thiémet.
In 1818, Paul studied mathematics at Butet School. Later, he continued his studies at the École du Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers in Paris. Due to this education, he retained a taste for mathematics and the speculation of pure theory on scientific issues. He retained it to such an extent that, at the end of his life, this taste turned into an obsession.
Paul Gavarni started his career as a mechanical worker at a machine factory. Some time later, he was appointed a draughtsman at the Government Ordinance Department. Only in his early thirties, Gavarni started to paint. His first drawings appeared in the magazine "Journal des modes".
In 1827, Gavarni received a commission from Pierre Antoine Leboux de la Mésangère to create costumes. In 1830, Paul was appointed an illustrator for the journal "La Mode". In 1831, Gavarni began publishing his scenes of everyday contemporary life and praise from writers, such as Honoré de Balzac gained him popularity. Two years later, in 1833, he began publication of the "Journal of High Society", which failed after 18 numbers and was responsible for Gavarni’s imprisonment for debt in 1835 for almost a year. The same year, Gavarni founded the satirical journal "Gens du Monde", for which he made 16 lithographs.
Since 1839 to 1846, Paul produced his famous series Les Lorettes, Les Débardeurs and Les Fourberies de femmes. Around 1845, after the death of his mother and the end of his marriage, his style changed, deepening in seriousness and subtlety.
In 1849, Paul visited England. There, Gavarni received invitations from members of the aristocracy and the court, as well as from the intellectual and literary world. However, the artist became weary of producing pictures for the amusement of the "bourgeoisie" and lived reclusively, devoting himself to speculative-mathematical-scientific theories. Upon his return to Paris, his impressions were published in the book "Londres et les Anglais, illustrés par Gavarni" (1862) by Émile de la Bédollière.
Gavarni returned to France in late 1851 and for two years he produced an extraordinary amount of drawings. During the period from 1852 to 1853, he made 329 lithographs in 18 series for the newly-established journal "Paris".
In 1853, Paul gave up lithography and during the last ten years of his life, he created watercolours only.
Quotations: "One of the sweetest pleasures of a woman is to cause regret."
Paul was married and had one child — Pierre Gavarni, who was also a painter. Later in his life, Paul divorced his wife.
