What idiots! You paint a religious picture for them and they laugh.... they don't even have a devotion to art!..., from 'Sketches from the Salon,' published in Le Charivari, June 1, 1865
Original title: What idiots! You paint a religious picture for them and they laugh.... they don't even have a devotion to art!..., from 'Sketches from the Salon,' published in Le Charivari, June 1, 1865
kurzbeschreibung
Unlike many contemporary Salon caricatures that merely mimic poses, Honoré Daumier's 1865 lithograph from the 'Sketches from the Salon' series in 'Le Charivari' pairs two men's reaction before a religious painting with a fundamental question about artistic understanding. The print satirizes the public's taste and the art criticism of its time.
Description
Two figures stand before a framed devotional image: on the left a gentleman in a top hat and jacket, on the right one in a hat and coat. Following their gaze, one sees the painting with a religious scene behind them. Beneath the image runs the text 'Les Crétins!... on leur peint un tableau religieux et ils rient... il n'ont même pas la religion de l'art!...' The black-and-white lithograph employs detailed structures and fine textures.
Context
For the satirical journal 'Le Charivari', Daumier regularly drew the series 'Sketches from the Salon', which dealt with the annual Paris Salon exhibitions and audience reactions. This sheet appeared on June 1, 1865, and exists in the second state of two (Delteil).
Impact
An ironic tension arises between the religious painting and the viewers' laughter. Image and text together expose the public's lack of artistic sensibility. The immediate, lively effect is typical of Daumier's caricatures.
Technique
As a lithograph on newsprint, the sheet uses a process Daumier often employed for his satirical prints. It allowed fine lines and shading, evident in the figures and the painting. This copy is the second state of two and measures 22.1 × 22.3 cm (image) and 29.8 × 29.6 cm (sheet).
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)