Eh! bien... as-tu l'intention de rester là?..., from "Croquis de Chasse"
Original title: Eh! bien... as-tu l'intention de rester là?..., from "Croquis de Chasse"
kurzbeschreibung
Honoré Daumier made this lithograph in 1859 under the title 'Eh! bien... as-tu l'intention de rester là?' It belongs to the Croquis de Chasse, a series of hunting scenes, and sets two hunters down in a broad, open stretch of country. The drawing is in black and white only.
Description
Two figures face each other on what looks like open ground. At the left stands a man upright, a gun over his shoulder, dressed in jacket, trousers and cap. At the right a second figure sits, also armed, in jacket and trousers, dark-haired. Their postures suggest a conversation, the very exchange the caption picks up. Around them the setting stays bare and vague, with no other objects or people.
Context
Daumier drew the lithograph for Croquis de Chasse, a series that ran in the satirical journal Le Charivari. In these sheets he mocked the mishaps and quirks of middle-class hunting in the nineteenth century. The date 4 November 1859 marks when the print appeared in the journal.
Impact
A lively arrangement puts the exchange between the two hunters at the heart of the picture. Confined to black and white, the print leans on body language and dialogue, and the result is an amused tone with a critical edge beneath it.
Technique
Lithography on newsprint, a process Daumier used often because it allowed quick, inexpensive printing. This impression is the second state of three (Delteil), which points to the stone having been reworked.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)