Le Charivari, 1845-1846 : Ouverture du pate monstr (...) c. 1845 - 1846

This print, made anonymously in Paris around 1845, presents a scene outside the "Restaurant Dagneaux." It was made using lithography, a process that democratized image-making in the 19th century. The visual impact of lithography lies in its capacity to capture a wide range of tonal values, from deep blacks to delicate grays. The anonymous artist creates the impression of depth, light, and shadow, and invites us into a bustling scene of social commentary. Lithography, unlike traditional printmaking, relies on chemical reactions rather than physical carving, allowing for more spontaneous mark-making, with the print resembling a drawing. Here, the artist captures a moment of bourgeois consumption, where the labor-intensive process of cooking is obscured behind a facade of elegant dining. The "pâté monstre" becomes a symbol of excess, reflecting the growing disparities in wealth and access that characterized industrializing Europe. By emphasizing the materiality and methods of production in visual culture, we can better understand its social and political implications, questioning established hierarchies within art history.