Future
1904
Fernand Louis Gottlob captures a gritty barroom confrontation in this 1904 satirical sketch, titled 'Avenir' (Future). A man in a long, washed-green coat aggressively grabs a pipe-smoking fellow by the collar, while a bartender and another bearded onlooker watch the drama unfold. The handwritten caption at the bottom delivers the punchline: a grumbling complaint about 'social sharing' (early socialism), where the speaker worries that if property were redistributed, the 'pig tenants' wouldn't do their part. It’s a hilarious, cynical glimpse into early 20th-century French political anxieties, showing that debates about housing and socialism are nothing new.