← Honoré Daumier

Ah! madame,... vous venez de nous jouer Marivaux comme jamais on ne l'avait joué..., from "Les Comediens de Société"

Original title: Ah! madame,... vous venez de nous jouer Marivaux comme jamais on ne l'avait joué..., from "Les Comediens de Société"

Artist

Honoré Daumier

Date

April 28, 1858

Medium

Lithograph on newsprint; second state of two (Delteil)

Dimensions

Sheet: 9 3/4 × 14 7/16 in. (24.7 × 36.6 cm) Image: 7 15/16 × 9 11/16 in. (20.2 × 24.6 cm)

Credit line

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1936

kurzbeschreibung

This 1858 lithograph by Honoré Daumier comes from the series 'Les Comédiens de Société' and presents a scene centered on a woman in an expensive dress with a child in her arms, surrounded by a man and other onlookers. The print belongs to a set that satirically examines the bourgeois theatrical milieu.

Description

A woman in a long, elaborate dress holds a child in her arms, forming the still center of the scene. Behind her, a wooden bench and a column structure the space. To her right stands a bearded man in a dark suit; three other figures are visible as audience members. Black and white dominate the image, with soft contours and strong shadows cast by frontal light. The arrangement feels balanced, with the woman clearly in the foreground.

Context

Created on April 28, 1858, for the series 'Les Comédiens de Société,' published in the satirical journal 'Le Charivari,' the lithograph targets bourgeois theatrical culture and the social role-playing of the Second Empire. The title alludes to a play by Marivaux, an 18th-century French dramatist, and mocks the audience's exaggerated enthusiasm. Daumier used lithography to comment on the social types and behaviors of his time.

Impact

Between admiration and irony, the print has an ambivalent effect: the woman's theatrical gesture and the spectators' reactions are overdone, inviting critical scrutiny. The clear layout and subtle shading draw attention to the figures and their interaction, bringing out the social dynamics of the scene.

Technique

Lithography on newsprint—a process in which one draws with greasy chalk on stone and then prints on paper. This is the second state of two, indicating later reworking of the stone. The technique allows fine gradations of gray tones, used here for a realistic rendering of figures and spaces.

AI-generated description text

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