La vigne souffre,... soufrons la vigne, from "Croquis d'Été"
Original title: La vigne souffre,... soufrons la vigne, from "Croquis d'Été"
kurzbeschreibung
Unlike the other sheets in Daumier's 'Croquis d'Été', this pair does not present the rural scene as a cheerful idyll: made as a lithograph on 12 August 1857, two figures square off against each other with sticks. The image was printed on newsprint, in the second of two states (Delteil).
Description
A woman in a long, billowing dress turns away with her stick raised, while the man facing her, in shirt and trousers, also holds a stick and watches her go. Trees and shrubs stack up behind the pair, and light enters from the left. Foreground and woodland are kept clearly apart in the layout; the lighting picks out shadows and bark, and the posture of the two figures sets the sheet in motion.
Context
In 1857 the satirical magazine 'Le Charivari' published the series 'Croquis d'Été', which took aim at the summer doings of the Parisian bourgeoisie. For his socially critical caricatures Daumier chose lithography as his medium. The title alludes ironically to the vine, a motif he used often and one that lent itself readily to allegories of social conditions.
Impact
The arrangement of the two quarrelling figures and the clear direction of light give the sheet something immediate and observed. Daumier's caricatural realism makes the scene comic and at the same time prompts reflection, as is characteristic of his art.
Technique
The sheet was printed as a lithograph on newsprint, a process that allows fine strokes and gradations of shading. It was reproduced in black and white, with the tensions between light and dark arising from the lithography itself. A plate later reworked attests to the second of two states.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)