Faut-y faire une lettre pour l’attendrir?.../ Attendrir un huissier!..vous n’êtes donc pas français, mon brave homme?....
Original title: "Faut-y faire une lettre pour l’attendrir?.../ Attendrir un huissier!..vous n’êtes donc pas français, mon brave homme?...." , plate 5 from Les Gens de Justice
kurzbeschreibung
A kneeling woman with a box before her speaks to a man at a table who is writing. This pairing anchors a print from Honoré Daumier’s series Les Gens de Justice, dated April 17, 1845. The lithograph presents a courtroom scene in which three other figures follow the exchange from behind. The caption below records a dialogue about a bailiff.
Description
On the floor, knees down, a box set before her, a woman addresses a man seated at a table and writing. Three people in dark robes and hats stand behind, watching. A sign reading “JUGEMENT” is visible on the wall. The layout pulls the eye toward the exchange between the two main figures; the lithograph’s grays set the tonal range. Faces are slightly exaggerated, giving the whole a caricatural edge.
Context
In the 1840s Daumier created Les Gens de Justice to satirize the world of the courts. The lithograph appeared on April 17, 1845, in the satirical journal Le Charivari. Through his art Daumier condemned the social ills and bureaucracy of his time; courtroom scenes often served him as a mirror of social injustice.
Impact
Clearly organized and focused on the interaction between the woman and the scribe, the print feels immediately insistent. The caricatural traits of the figures lend the scene an ironic sharpness and prompt reflection on the bureaucracy depicted. An even, calm distribution of light supports the lithograph’s matter-of-fact, almost documentary effect.
Technique
For the lithograph Daumier drew the motif with greasy chalk on a limestone, from which it was then printed on paper. The gray tones arise from varying printing pressure and hatching. The sheet measures 43.2 × 35.6 cm, a format that allows detailed rendering of the figures and the space.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)