Sketch of a Man 

Paul Gavarni created this pen and ink sketch of a man in nineteenth-century France. Gavarni was renowned for his satirical lithographs of Parisian life, often depicting the city's working class. In this drawing, the man's posture and clothing suggest a member of the lower class, perhaps a manual laborer. The sketch's quick, informal style indicates it may have been a study for a larger work or a spontaneous observation of daily life. Gavarni's focus on the working class reflects the growing social awareness in France during the 1800s, a period marked by industrialization and urbanization. Artists like Gavarni played a role in representing and critiquing the social realities of their time. To fully understand this sketch, we might consult newspapers and journals from the time, exploring the social and economic conditions that Gavarni captured. Art history, after all, exists within a larger historical context.