"Allow me to tell you, sir, that you have exhibited a masterpiece this year." (from Salon Sketches)

Artist Honoré Daumier (French, 1808 - 1879)

Date1865

MediumHand colored lithograph on paper

DimensionsOverall: 14 1/8 x 10 11/16in. (35.9 x 27.1cm)
Image: 9 9/16 x 8 7/16in. (24.3 x 21.4cm)

ClassificationsPRINTS

Credit LineGift of Edward W. Root

Terms

19th Century

Object number53.54

Description

On View

Not on view

Collections

Graphic Arts

CopyrightNo known copyright restrictions.

Label TextHonoré Daumier was the leading chronicler of everyday life in nineteenth century France. After increasingly harsh French censorship laws imposed in 1835 and a six month prison term for drawing highly critical satires of the oppressive regime of French monarch Louis-Philippe, Daumier began producing less controversial subjects. His subsequent lithographs focused on the day-to-day activities of Parisians during the Second Empire and Third Republic. The compassionate, humorous and ultimately optimistic view that Daumier had of French middle-class life appears to have held a particular appeal for Edward Root. His bequest to the museum of forty-seven prints by Daumier greatly exceeded that of any other artist. This lithograph, the second state of this image, with the colors added by hand after the print was pulled from the press, was published in Paris's Le Charivari on May 31, 1865. PDS February 2005