The Madeleine-Bastille Bus Line, A trifle, a nothing... and the bus is full, published in Souvenirs d'Artistes
Original title: The Madeleine-Bastille Bus Line, A trifle, a nothing... and the bus is full, published in Souvenirs d'Artistes
kurzbeschreibung
In this 1862 lithograph Honoré Daumier takes on a ride in a packed omnibus. The print belongs to the 'Souvenirs d'Artistes' series and skewers the crush of Parisian public transport in the nineteenth century with dry wit.
Description
The view opens onto the interior of a densely filled omnibus. Up front a man in a long coat grips the hanging strap so he won't lose his balance. Two women sit beside him, one looking taken aback, the other turning toward him. Behind them more passengers crowd in, among them a gentleman in a top hat. Along the top runs the lettering 'MADELEINE - BASTILLE', and below it the line 'Un zeste, un rien... et l'omnibus se trouve complet'. Black and white govern the entire sheet.
Context
Daumier drew this sheet in 1862 for 'Souvenirs d'Artistes', a series that appeared in the satirical journal 'Le Charivari'. The overcrowded omnibus points to everyday life under the Second Empire, when horse-drawn buses formed the backbone of Parisian traffic. Daumier, a master of social satire, captured the comedy of cramped space and the reactions of fellow travelers.
Impact
Closely observed gestures and slightly exaggerated postures carry the humor of the print. Standing before it, you follow a scene that invites a smile and also gives pause, because it exposes the absurdity of crowded spaces. The faces and movements seen up close pull the action right up to the viewer.
Technique
Drawn in lithography, the sheet was made with Daumier working in greasy chalk directly on the limestone. Fine hatching and graded tones between black and gray shape the print, which survives as the second state of two (Delteil). This method allowed textures and shadows to be rendered with nuance and kept the figures lively.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)