Information, from 'Hunting sketches,' published in Le Chiavari, October 17, 1864
Original title: Information, from 'Hunting sketches,' published in Le Chiavari, October 17, 1864
kurzbeschreibung
Honoré Daumier made the lithograph Information on October 17, 1864. It belongs to the Hunting Sketches series and presents a woman carrying a bundle of firewood on her back, pointing at a man who stands before her. The sheet was published in the journal Le Chiavari.
Description
A woman with a faggot of sticks strapped to her back stands in the foreground, one hand indicating a man. He wears a jacket, trousers and a hat, and holds a walking stick. Both figures are set in an open field whose contours are only hinted at behind them. At the bottom of the image sits a text panel headed "UN RENSEIGNEMENT" with a line of dialogue. The lithograph is printed in a single colour, in a caricatural style rich in detail that stresses faces and gestures above all.
Context
This lithograph was made for the satirical journal Le Chiavari as one of the Hunting Sketches. That series took a humorous look at the bourgeois passion for hunting in the nineteenth century. The dialogue inserted into the picture points to a comic situation of the kind familiar from Daumier's socially critical caricatures. The work was printed as the second state on newsprint.
Impact
Clearly laid out, with expressive gestures from the two figures, the print tells a small story at once. The woman's heavy load sets up a tension with the man's casual bearing, and from that comes an ironic note that gives the viewer something to think about.
Technique
The lithograph was printed on newsprint in a single ink, with finely worked lines. This is the second of two states, which suggests the printing plate was reworked.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)