Those Good Fathers or At the Latin Quarter
1905
Fernand Gottlob, a master of Art Nouveau illustration, captures the lazy, bohemian vibe of Paris's Latin Quarter in this 1905 sketch. Two students sit at a cafe table; one yawns widely in boredom while the other looks weary, scribbling away on a notepad with an inkwell nearby. The handwritten caption at the bottom delivers the punchline: the writer isn't working on a masterpiece, but drafting a letter to his father asking for 500 francs to pay his friend's rent! It's a witty satire of the 'starving student' lifestyle that relied heavily on wealthy parents back in the Belle Époque.