← Honoré Daumier

The only way to be safe on a pleasure trip, from 'On the train,' published in Le Charivari, September 3, 1864

Original title: The only way to be safe on a pleasure trip, from 'On the train,' published in Le Charivari, September 3, 1864

Artist

Honoré Daumier

Date

September 3, 1864

Medium

Lithograph on newsprint; third state of three (Delteil)

Dimensions

Image: 8 1/2 × 9 5/16 in. (21.6 × 23.6 cm) Sheet: 11 11/16 × 11 1/8 in. (29.7 × 28.3 cm)

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1962

kurzbeschreibung

Honoré Daumier made this lithograph in 1864 as part of his series 'On the train', published in Le Charivari. It shows two passengers in a railway compartment threatening each other with pistols. The print pokes fun at the travel conditions that many people found alarming at the time.

Description

Two men face each other in a train carriage. The one on the left wears a top hat, the other a bowler; both are dressed in suits and each holds a pistol. Their faces are drawn with exaggerated features, which heightens the caricatural tone. Plain wooden panels suggesting the interior of a carriage form the backdrop. At the top one reads 'EN CHEMIN DE FER', and below the scene the French text 'Seul moyen de faire avec sécurité un voyage d'agrément'.

Context

The print appeared on 3 September 1864 in the French satirical journal Le Charivari, for which Daumier worked regularly. It belongs to a series about railway travel, which was becoming increasingly important in France at the time. Daumier often addressed social and technological innovations of his day with critical humour. The armed passengers allude to contemporary fears of train robberies.

Impact

The symmetrical standoff between the two armed men creates an absurd, comic effect. The exaggerated facial features intensify the satire and invite a smile. At the same time, the print contains a quiet critique of the paranoia and social insecurities of those years.

Technique

Executed as a lithograph on newsprint, the work is the third of three states (Delteil). The lithographic process allows for fine lines and shading, which are used here for the caricatural drawing. The paper is thin and shows the texture typical of newspaper printing.

AI-generated description text

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