← Honoré Daumier

Aspect de la salle..., from Actualités, published in Le Charivari, April 2, 1859

Original title: Aspect de la salle..., from Actualités, published in Le Charivari, April 2, 1859

Artist

Honoré Daumier

Date

April 2, 1859

Medium

Lithograph on newsprint; second state of two (Hazard & Delteil)

Dimensions

Image: 8 1/2 × 10 3/16 in. (21.6 × 25.9 cm) Sheet: 10 1/2 × 10 15/16 in. (26.7 × 27.8 cm)

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1962

kurzbeschreibung

Honoré Daumier’s lithograph “Blick auf den Saal ...” from 2 April 1859 leads into a concert hall during a festival of the Orphéonistes. Part of the “Actualités” series, it appeared in Le Charivari. Executed as a lithograph on newsprint, the sheet is the second state.

Description

A stage closes the far end of the hall; on it, two figures stand on raised platforms and conduct with batons. In the foreground, several spectators in hats and jackets look toward the stage. Behind them stretches a large crowd, also facing the stage. Black and white records detailed rows of seats and the stage architecture.

Context

Daumier drew this lithograph for the “Actualités” series, which satirically accompanied current events. The occasion was the grand festival of the Orphéonistes, a popular choral movement in France. Le Charivari published the sheet on 2 April 1859; it is the second state of the lithograph.

Impact

Densely packed and with conducting figures, the image creates a lively sense of a full concert hall’s atmosphere, carrying a dynamic tension. The black-and-white rendering heightens contrasts and brings the stage into view, so attention falls on the musical event.

Technique

Daumier often turned to lithography on newsprint for his satirical prints, as here. The second state may contain revisions compared with the first, as recorded in the catalogues raisonnés by Hazard and Delteil.

AI-generated description text

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