Gazette du Bon Ton, 1921 - No. 9, Pl. 66: Bar de nuit 1921

Charles Laborde created this print titled "Bar de Nuit" for the French periodical Gazette du Bon Ton in 1921, capturing a scene of nighttime leisure. The Gazette du Bon Ton was a lavish magazine that offered its sophisticated readership the latest in fashion, lifestyle and the arts. Laborde’s Bar de Nuit is not just a picture of a bar. It's a glimpse into the social rituals of the Parisian upper class in the wake of the First World War. The style of the print itself is interesting. It is not meant to represent reality but to evoke the mood and feeling of a time and place. What does it say about the cultural norms of the period that the male figure is dressed for formal daywear and is perhaps asleep, while the woman sits in silence next to him? Historians look at periodicals such as Gazette du Bon Ton and other social documents to help us to understand the institutions and social arrangements that enable art like this to be made and to be seen. This print offers much to unpack in understanding how Parisian society was re-building itself after the Great War.