Le Bon Genre: Observations sur les modes et les usages de Paris 1827

Curator: Let's examine "La Coiffure Chinoise" (or "The Chinese Hairstyle") from the series "Le Bon Genre: Observations sur les modes et les usages de Paris," a lithograph from around 1827. The artwork is a print—lithograph and drawing, really—that is located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York. Editor: My initial reaction? It's striking how delicate and subtly colorful it is, almost like a faded watercolor. The scene feels very poised and deliberately arranged; everything seems to point to the female figure at the center. Curator: That’s an astute observation. The print emerged during a period when French society was increasingly fascinated—albeit problematically—with other cultures. Publications like "Le Bon Genre" documented contemporary trends, but often did so through the lens of social satire. The figure appears to be the messangère, whose style is captured in portraits. Editor: It’s all in the gestures and posture. Notice the stylized application of line—look at the folds in her gown, but especially notice her carefully raised elbows! The positioning definitely creates an aura of affected grace. It feels both poised and fragile. Curator: Precisely! The scene plays on orientalist fantasies prevalent at the time. The so-called Chinese figures attending to her hair, the very title "La Coiffure Chinoise," it's all feeding into this exotic other. I see this piece very much as commentary on the performance of social identity through fashion. Editor: I find the way light is handled equally compelling, so subdued—as if captured in a haze. It diffuses the forms just so and softens their edges. What this image really gives us is an insight into form through carefully considered arrangement. It’s not chaotic or loud; there is clarity and control. Curator: This lithograph then, gives us not only an insight into social customs and sartorial style of the French Restoration, but also reminds us of how cultural appropriation was—and remains—a significant dynamic in artistic production and social life. Editor: For me, this quiet observation—with its emphasis on precise lines and artful staging—creates an enchanting vision of a bygone era.