← Honoré Daumier

Which shows that even cleanliness can be hazardous, from "Parisian Sketches"

Original title: Which shows that even cleanliness can be hazardous, from "Parisian Sketches"

Artist

Honoré Daumier

Date

December 3, 1864

Medium

Lithograph on newsprint; third state of three (Delteil, undescribed)

Dimensions

Image: 6 7/16 × 9 1/2 in. (16.3 × 24.2 cm) Sheet: 8 3/16 × 11 13/16 in. (20.8 × 30 cm)

Credit line

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1936

kurzbeschreibung

Honoré Daumier's 1864 lithograph makes plain how doubtful the blessing of a thorough cleaning can turn out to be: a man in work clothes swings a broom over a figure lying on the ground, while two gentlemen in fine tailoring look on. The sheet belongs to the series "Croquis Parisiens" and was printed on newsprint.

Description

A motionless, almost human figure lies stretched out on the paving, and a man in uniform or working dress is busy around it with a broom. Two figures in well-kept suits and top hats follow the procedure, one of them leaning on a cane. Sketchy trees and houses outline a city setting toward the rear of the picture. Black and white governs the whole sheet, finely graded shadows bring the figures forward, and the restless arrangement pulls the eye toward the body on the ground.

Context

With the "Croquis Parisiens" Daumier supplied satirical companion pieces on everyday life in the city under the Second Empire. This sheet appeared in a newspaper on December 3, 1864, which explains its immediate tie to the day's events. Social hardship and the oddities of big-city life were subjects Daumier returned to again and again. The figure on the ground can be read as a hint at homelessness or at the indifference of those around him.

Impact

The sheet unsettles because an everyday chore and a grotesque exaggeration are brought so close together. The watching gentlemen and the seemingly detached cleanup leave a depressing impression. Anyone looking at the image is prompted to think about the social coldness of this scene.

Technique

The sheet was printed as a lithograph on newsprint, a medium characteristic of Daumier's satirical work. The process allows fine strokes and shadows, through which the figures of this view stand out with volume. What is present here is the third of three states, which suggests the plate was reworked.

AI-generated description text

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