Jean Béraud was a French painter renowned for his numerous paintings depicting the life of Paris, and the nightlife of Paris society. His blurred artworks are precisely detailed illustrations of everyday Parisian life during the "Belle Époque" period.

Established in 1856 on the site of a former Armes de France ballroom, the Graffard ball was located on Boulevard Ménilmontant, in the heart of popular Paris, near Père Lachaise. It was occasionally used as a room for political meetings under the Second Empire and at the beginning of the Third Republic.