Les-Parents-Terribles series: Well, now, Achilles... 1852

Curator: Let’s turn our attention to Paul Gavarni’s print, “Well, now, Achilles…” which comes from his "Les-Parents-Terribles series" in 1852. It’s currently held at The Art Institute of Chicago. Editor: Right away, I'm struck by the way the artist has rendered the figures. It feels very immediate, very material, particularly the texture of the man's robe. The cross-hatching used to define the shading, almost like a textile sample itself, it draws me into thinking about the labor involved in producing printed imagery for mass consumption. Curator: It's true that Gavarni made many of these lithographs for popular journals and satirical magazines. He became quite famous portraying Parisian life, focusing on social types, and everyday scenes like this one – what seems to be a conversation between husband and wife in their domestic sphere. The caption clearly frames this interaction in melodramatic terms – terrible parents – how interesting! Editor: Exactly. Think about the printing process. Each impression is identical – this points towards how reproducible gender roles and class status are circulated, literally pressed upon viewers and re-circulated in the culture. Are these ‘terrible’ parents or just trapped within social and material confines that give limited agency for imagination, and reinvention? Curator: A very pertinent point, especially given the period. Considering it was produced in 1852, we're in the midst of massive social upheaval in France, politically and industrially. I wonder if "terrible parents" suggests something about anxieties regarding changing societal values and the shift from rural to urban life and all this encapsulates for the family dynamic and future. Editor: And note the 'Depose' mark in blue in the top portion of the image: suggesting something new, for sure, perhaps a critique aimed towards the emerging French middle-class family, made possible only by the explosion of consumer capitalism that, by definition, depends on relentless social novelty. Curator: Gavarni cleverly gives us a slice of social commentary while seemingly documenting the commonplace. Editor: In examining this print, it becomes apparent how essential materiality, mass-reproducibility, and labor are to not just appreciating art, but using that artistic representation as a magnifying glass towards examining social realities, and their continuous reverberation. Curator: And by engaging with such visual depictions, we gain critical tools of evaluation towards societal progression.