← Honoré Daumier

Comme ça se redresse vite. . .

Original title: Comme ça se redresse vite. . .

Artist

Honoré Daumier

Date

June 25, 1869

Medium

Lithograph on newsprint; third state of three (Delteil)

Dimensions

Image: 9 1/2 × 8 1/8 in. (24.1 × 20.6 cm) Sheet: 11 7/16 × 9 5/8 in. (29 × 24.5 cm) Mount: 12 9/16 in. × 10 3/16 in. (31.9 × 25.8 cm)

Credit line

Gift of Alan S. Schonfeld, 1996

kurzbeschreibung

Honoré Daumier made this lithograph, 'Comme ça se redresse vite...', in 1869 as one of his 'Actualités' series. It belongs to his late period and offers a comic caricature of two figures. The print is the third state of the lithograph, which was issued in three states.

Description

Two figures face each other on the sheet: at left a gentleman in a suit and top hat, smoking a cigarette and holding a cane; at right someone in plain clothes with a headscarf, suggesting a worker or peasant. Both straighten up and look toward the viewer. The backdrop stays bare, the ground only lightly indicated. The layout is symmetrical, with the figures posted left and right. Done in black and white, the lithograph has crisp contours and carefully worked faces.

Context

This caricature was made in 1869 for the French satirical journal that ran Daumier's 'Actualités' series. It was printed on newsprint, and the impression at hand is the third of three states (Delteil). The work falls in Daumier's later years, when political and social criticism occupied him intensely.

Impact

The exaggerated features and contrasting clothes of the two figures produce a comic, ironic effect. The symmetrical arrangement gives the scene a calm, almost statue-like presence that sharpens its satirical bite.

Technique

The lithograph was printed on newsprint, as was usual for the mass distribution of caricatures in the nineteenth century. This process allowed fine lines and sharp contrasts, visible in the detailed figures.

AI-generated description text

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)