Mr. Prudhomme vouant son fils au... nouveau dieu..., from "Actualitès"
Original title: Mr. Prudhomme vouant son fils au... nouveau dieu..., from "Actualitès"
kurzbeschreibung
Where many caricatures of the period simply denounce the lust for money, Honoré Daumier goes further in this 1857 lithograph: he has the fictional bourgeois Mr. Prudhomme kneel with his own son before a sign reading "MILLION" and three money bags. Part of the "Actualités" series, the print turns satire on the worship of money in Second Empire Paris.
Description
Prudhomme kneels dead center before a large sign bearing the word "MILLION"; beside it sit three sacks labeled "10000". He reaches out one hand while his son kneels in prayer, eyes fixed on the number. Lines of text with the word "ACTUALITÉS" run across the top, and the French title appears at the bottom. The layout is spare and legible, built entirely around the gesture of adoration.
Context
The lithograph appeared on February 2, 1857, in the satirical journal "Le Charivari" as part of the "Actualités" series. Daumier devised Mr. Prudhomme as a type of the smug French bourgeois, and here the character skewers the materialism of his age. The print responds to the wave of speculation and the stock-market boom in 1850s Paris.
Impact
A prayer pose staged before cash is instantly absurd, and instantly revealing. In one compact scene Daumier condenses his critique of bourgeois greed without needing many details.
Technique
Daumier drew with greasy chalk on the stone and printed from it: this is a lithograph. Crisp lines and flat areas of shading are typical of his satirical prints. The sheet is printed in portrait format on paper and measures 19.6 × 26.3 cm.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)