← Honoré Daumier

Oh! Mon ami...., j'ai peur de ces gens-là..., from Au Camp de Saint-Maur, published in Le Charivari, August 30, 1859

Original title: Oh! Mon ami...., j'ai peur de ces gens-là..., from Au Camp de Saint-Maur, published in Le Charivari, August 30, 1859

Artist

Honoré Daumier

Date

August 30, 1859

Medium

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

Dimensions

Image: 9 13/16 × 9 1/8 in. (24.9 × 23.2 cm) Sheet: 11 9/16 × 10 5/16 in. (29.4 × 26.2 cm)

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1962

kurzbeschreibung

Honoré Daumier made this lithograph in August 1859: a busy street where two men talk in the foreground while a crowd and a carriage fill the background. The print belongs to the series 'Au Camp de Saint-Maur' and appeared in Le Charivari on August 30, 1859.

Description

In front, two men are talking — one in a top hat who seems to be speaking, beside him a listener in traditional dress. Behind them, passersby crowd together with expressions ranging from curiosity to unease; some lean out of windows, others stop in the street. A carriage with several passengers pushes forward through the middle of the layout. The houses are carefully detailed with floors, windows and balconies. Black on white, the contours stand out strongly, the light falls evenly across the sheet, and shadows are nowhere to be found.

Context

In 1859 Daumier drew regularly for the satirical paper Le Charivari. The series 'Au Camp de Saint-Maur' refers to a military training camp near Paris that was publicly debated at the time. Lithography gave Daumier a means for social and political commentary, often with a mocking or critical edge. Several states of the print exist; this copy is the second of five.

Impact

Exaggerated expressions and caricature-like figures give the sheet a humorous yet closely observed quality. Because the light is so even and the contours so clear, the view feels calm and lively at once, inviting the viewer to read how the figures behave toward one another.

Technique

Drawn with greasy chalk on the stone, then printed on newsprint — a lithographic process. The strong lines and the restriction to a single tone come from this technique. That the impression is from the second of five states points to careful reworking of the stone by the artist.

AI-generated description text

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