To imagine that there are people who even travel in winter for fun and enjoyment!, from "Winter Sketches"
Original title: To imagine that there are people who even travel in winter for fun and enjoyment!, from "Winter Sketches"
kurzbeschreibung
Four figures huddle head to head in a dark room. Honoré Daumier lithographed this scene in 1864 for his series Winter Sketches. The sheet carries pen and ink notations and survives as the first of three states (Delteil).
Description
At the left stands someone in a cap and jacket, at the middle a figure in a top hat and scarf, and at the right another capped and jacketed man; a fourth, smaller figure completes the circle. The faces are pushed into caricature. Light falls on the group from the left, picking out faces and upper bodies while the dark ground cuts them off sharply. The lithograph stays black and white throughout.
Context
With the Winter Sketches Daumier contributed satirical pieces on urban life in nineteenth-century Paris. Le Charivari published the sheet on December 3, 1864. The wintry season served the artist as a foil for humorously exaggerating human quirks and social types.
Impact
The twisted expressions and the figures' tight clustering come across as comic, almost grotesque. Light and shadow set up an atmosphere that feels familiar and tense at once.
Technique
Lithograph with annotations in pen and ink; first of three states (Delteil). The image measures 16 × 24.2 cm, the support 21.3 × 28.1 cm.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)