Thrifty villagers, satisfied watching the presentation from the outside, from "A celebration in the neighboring village"
Original title: Thrifty villagers, satisfied watching the presentation from the outside, from "A celebration in the neighboring village"
kurzbeschreibung
In 1865 Honoré Daumier made a lithograph of villagers who, too thrifty to pay their way in, watch a meeting inside a hall from outside the window. The sheet belongs to the series "A Festival in the Neighboring Village" and was produced as a lithograph.
Description
At the front several people crowd together, their gaze directed through the window opening into the hall. On the right a man, presumably the speaker, holds a paper in his hand and drives his words home with gestures. The listeners stand about in very different postures, some entirely absorbed, others rather casual. Inside, plain furniture and a staircase can be made out. Light strikes from outside and picks out the contours and shadows of the figures.
Context
This sheet was made in June 1865 for the satirical magazine "Le Charivari", as part of a series. "A Festival in the Neighboring Village" deals with country life and the social conditions of nineteenth-century France. Daumier was known for his critical yet humorous view of society.
Impact
The caricatural, humorous tone peculiar to Daumier's work shapes this print as well. The arrangement draws the eye to the exchange between speaker and audience and gives rise to a lively, amusing scene.
Technique
Lithography on newsprint, third of three states according to Delteil. The lithographic process allows fine lines and graduated shading, with which figures and space are worked out in detail; Daumier often turned to it for his satirical prints.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)