← Honoré Daumier

Dites donc monsieur Beaufumé..., from Croquis d'Été, published in Le Charivari, July 17, 1858

Original title: Dites donc monsieur Beaufumé..., from Croquis d'Été, published in Le Charivari, July 17, 1858

Artist

Honoré Daumier

Date

July 17, 1858

Medium

Lithograph on newsprint; third state of three (Delteil)

Dimensions

Sheet: 9 11/16 × 14 5/16 in. (24.6 × 36.4 cm) Image: 7 13/16 × 10 1/16 in. (19.9 × 25.6 cm)

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1953

kurzbeschreibung

In a sauna, two men and a woman fall into conversation. Honoré Daumier captured this scene in 1858 as a lithograph; the print belongs to the series 'Croquis d'Été' and appeared on July 17, 1858, in Le Charivari.

Description

Three figures inhabit the interior of a sauna: two men stand talking, each with only a towel around his hips, while a woman sits nearby with her back to the viewer. Further back, other figures can be made out in a similar setting. The reproduction remains black and white, and the postures feel everyday and unforced.

Context

The lithograph comes from the series 'Croquis d'Été', published in the satirical journal Le Charivari in the 19th century. The series took up summer pleasures and scenes from bourgeois daily life. Daumier worked regularly for the paper at the time, contributing both political and social caricatures.

Impact

The humorous situation comes across as immediate and lifelike, thanks not least to the relaxed poses of the figures. Because everything stays black and white and the lines are clearly drawn, attention turns to how those present interact.

Technique

A lithograph on newsprint is at hand—a process often used for satirical prints in the 19th century. Three states exist from the stone; this copy is the third (Delteil), suggesting revision.

AI-generated description text

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