← Honoré Daumier

Vous voyez....je viens de faire...mon marché..., from Les Hippophages, published in Le Charivari, January 13, 1857

Original title: Vous voyez....je viens de faire...mon marché..., from Les Hippophages, published in Le Charivari, January 13, 1857

Artist

Honoré Daumier

Date

January 13, 1857

Medium

Lithograph; second state of two (Delteil)

Dimensions

Sheet: 9 11/16 × 13 7/8 in. (24.6 × 35.3 cm) Image: 8 3/8 × 10 3/16 in. (21.2 × 25.8 cm)

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1962

kurzbeschreibung

For this sheet from the series 'Les Hippophages', Honoré Daumier took an ordinary street encounter in 1857 and gave it a comic twist: a rider turns to two passers-by and lets slip what he really thinks of his horse's quality. The work is a black-and-white lithograph, surviving in the second of two states.

Description

A rider in top hat and jacket dominates the foreground, drawing the eyes of the two men standing at the right edge of the street. His horse carries the load, while fine strokes and graded shading model the figures' bodies. Beneath the drawing runs the accompanying caption: 'Vous voyez...... je viens de faire moi-même mon marché..... je vous invite à dîner pour demain..... on ne peut pas dire que ce soit un cheval de la première catégorie, mais le bouillon n'en sera que meilleur!'

Context

The sheet appeared on 13 January 1857 in the satirical journal 'Le Charivari', as part of the series 'Les Hippophages', which pokes fun at the eating of horse meat. Daumier was weighing in on a debate that gained ground in France during the 1850s, when horse meat was increasingly discussed as food. Several sheets in the series treat the subject with irony and a critical edge.

Impact

The rider addresses the viewer almost directly, and the familiar street setting does the rest, giving the impression of a lively moment caught on the spot. Between the well-kept top hat and the plain business of buying a horse opens a comic contrast that invites a smile.

Technique

For reproduction Daumier used lithography, a planographic process that allows both delicate lines and nuanced tones of grey. The print survives in the second of two states, suggesting the plate was reworked later. The method made quick, inexpensive production possible for publication in a daily newspaper.

AI-generated description text

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