GAVARNI, Paul [pseudonym of Guillaume Sulpice Chevallier]

Nuances du Sentiment

Paris: Aubert et Cie., 1839. Item #06466

The Fine Shades of Feeling: Gavarni and the Comedy of Modern Emotion

GAVARNI, Paul [pseudonym of Guillaume-Sulpice Chevallier]. Nuances du Sentiment. Paris: Aubert et Cie., [1839–1840].

First edition. Folio (13 1/4 x 10 inches; 336 x 254 mm.). Twenty-five lithograph plates. Plate no. 20 with contemporary hand-coloring, heightened with gum arabic. Plate no. 10 misnumbered “9” (as noted by Armelhault). Plate no. 15 slightly shorter (3/8 inch) at lower margin. Some occasional light marginal foxing - most noticeable on plate 1.

Early twentieth-century blue cloth, covers decoratively bordered in blind, front cover lettered in gilt, expertly rebacked, spine lettered in gilt. Aside from the occasional light marginal foxing this is a near fine copy.

A charming and unusually appealing complete set from one of Gavarni’s most perceptive and elegant social suites, Nuances du Sentiment turns its attention to the delicate gradations of emotion, courtship, vanity, hesitation, disappointment, and self-dramatization that animate Parisian life. Few artists of the July Monarchy were better equipped than Gavarni to capture these fleeting psychological states. With his incomparable economy of line and his gift for registering gesture, pose, and expression, he transforms small moments of social comedy into scenes of remarkable acuity.

The title itself is characteristic: these are not grand passions, but subtleties - shades of feeling observed in drawing rooms, promenades, and private exchanges. Gavarni was among the supreme illustrators of modern manners, and in suites such as this one he stands beside Daumier as one of the great visual chroniclers of nineteenth-century French urban life. Yet where Daumier often bites, Gavarni more often insinuates; his satire is lighter, cooler, and at times almost tender, though no less exact.

Particularly attractive is the contemporary hand-coloring of plate 20, heightened with gum arabic, a feature that lends that sheet a more finished and decorative quality and offers an appealing reminder of the close relationship between the lithographic satire and the luxury print market of the period. The mis-numbering of plate 10 as “9,” recorded by Armelhault, is present as expected.

A quietly sophisticated and genuinely scarce Gavarni suite - and a reminder that the most revealing chronicles of nineteenth-century Paris are often found not in its grand narratives, but in its smallest gestures.

Rare: We have handles over fifty different titles illustrated by Gavarni - we have never seen nor heard of this title before.

Armelhault and Bocher 877-901.

Price: $4,500.00