Voilà le moment (passé minuit), ou le calme et la paix règnent véritablement dans les heureux menages (Moeurs Conjugales, No. 29)
Original title: Voilà le moment (passé minuit), ou le calme et la paix régnent véritablement dans les heureux menages (Moeurs Conjugales, No. 29)
kurzbeschreibung
A couple lies in bed with a child while the small hours settle into silence around them. Honoré Daumier made this hand-colored lithograph in November 1840; it is the second of four states and belongs to the series 'Moeurs Conjugales'.
Description
On the left, one figure rests on their side; on the right, another lies on their back with a child held against them. The bedding is white, the room dark and hung with a curtain. A bedside table with a lamp stands nearby, its light falling on the face of the figure on the right and on the child. Dark tones dominate, set off by the pale sheet and a red blanket.
Context
Daumier devised the 'Moeurs Conjugales' sequence for the satirical journal 'Le Charivari', turning its wit on married and family life. This sheet appeared within that series on 22 November 1840, describing bourgeois scenes with humorous criticism. Lithography let Daumier pin down the social types and situations of his day with economy and point.
Impact
The nighttime quiet and the tender gesture of the figure on the right, cradling the child, give the print an intimate mood that the irony quietly undercuts. The caricatural drawing and the accompanying caption sharpen a tone that is comic and reflective at once.
Technique
A hand-colored lithograph, printed on paper and then painted by hand; this is the second of four states. The coloring sets deliberate contrasts, not least between the darkened room and the bright bedding.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)