← Honoré Daumier

Ce malheureux lièvre doit être fatigué de courir comme ça à coté de la diligence....., from Croquis de Chasse, published in Le Charivari, September 29, 1859

Original title: Ce malheureux lièvre doit être fatigué de courir comme ça à coté de la diligence....., from Croquis de Chasse, published in Le Charivari, September 29, 1859

Artist

Honoré Daumier

Date

September 29, 1859

Medium

Lithograph; second state of two (Delteil)

Dimensions

Image: 8 9/16 × 10 3/4 in. (21.7 × 27.3 cm) Sheet: 12 in. × 11 5/8 in. (30.5 × 29.5 cm)

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1922

kurzbeschreibung

Honoré Daumier took up a hunting scene in his 1859 lithograph 'Ce malheureux lièvre doit être fatigué de courir comme ça à coté de la diligence.....' from the series 'Croquis de Chasse'. Five men have taken their places on a simple carriage and follow a running hare with their eyes. The print was published on September 29, 1859, in the magazine 'Le Charivari'.

Description

Five men crouch on a basic vehicle, dressed in contemporary hats and jackets. Their expressions vary: some look worried, others remain indifferent, while their gaze follows the hare running down the road ahead of them. The animal is in motion, its legs stretched wide. Ropes and pieces of wood hold the cart together, suggesting simple construction. Behind it, a flat landscape with a gentle horizon opens up, the light falls evenly without noticeable shadows.

Context

Daumier created this lithograph in 1859 for the series 'Croquis de Chasse'; it appeared in the Parisian satirical magazine 'Le Charivari'. In it, he mocked the bourgeois passion for hunting and distorted hunting scenes into absurdity. The caption plays on the French expression 'monter en lapin', which means 'to ride without a ticket', and thus adds to the joking tone. This is the second state of two (Delteil).

Impact

The caricatural drawing and the mocking subtitle make the print immediately funny. The serious faces of the passengers meet the fleeing hare and create an absurd tension that invites a smile. The clear, simple linework enhances this effect and makes the scene easily accessible.

Technique

The print was executed as a lithograph, a planographic process in which a grease crayon is used to draw on the stone. The even distribution of light and the fine strokes correspond to this technique. Daumier used lithography to reproduce quickly dashed-off, spontaneous sketches suitable for printing in magazines.

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