Les Parisiens à Cherbourg, from Actualités, published in Le Charivari, August 16-17, 1858
Original title: Les Parisiens à Cherbourg, from Actualités, published in Le Charivari, August 16-17, 1858
kurzbeschreibung
Honoré Daumier made the lithograph "Les Parisiens à Cherbourg" in 1858 for the magazine Le Charivari. Two figures occupy a bare room: one rests on a bed, the other lies on a staircase. The print pokes fun at how Parisians behaved during an event in Cherbourg.
Description
In the right foreground a figure with a headscarf has stretched out on a bed, a cup and a plate beside her. Further back on the left, another person in a headscarf lies on a staircase. The arrangement feels lopsided, and light falling from the upper left picks out shadows and the texture of walls and furniture. Black and white throughout, the linework is clear and closely observed.
Context
On 16 and 17 August 1858 the lithograph appeared in the satirical journal Le Charivari, as part of the series "Actualités". The occasion was the journey of Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie to Cherbourg for the inauguration of the new harbour. The Parisians who travelled for the event come across here as overtired and bad-tempered, a nod to the complaints of the trip. The work survives in the second of two known states.
Impact
Slumped in their bleak surroundings, the figures look almost grotesque, putting the travellers' exhaustion front and centre. The odd layout sharpens the satirical tone and invites a smile at the absurdity of the situation. All in all the print keeps an ironic distance from the events it describes.
Technique
The image was printed as a lithograph on newsprint, in the second state of two (Delteil). This method allowed the fine lines and detailed rendering typical of Daumier's satirical work. The sheet measures 24.8 × 33.9 cm, the image area 21.3 × 25.6 cm.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)