The Incomparable Somnambulist, from 'Memories of the Celebration at St. Cloud'
Original title: The incomparable somnabulist," from 'Memories of the celebration at St. Cloud,' published in Le Petit Journal pour Rire, September 16, 1865
kurzbeschreibung
Honoré Daumier's lithograph "Der unvergleichliche Somnambule," made in 1865, turns its attention to a sleeping figure surrounded by several onlookers. The print appeared on 16 September 1865 in "Le Petit Journal pour Rire" and belongs to a series of caricatures.
Description
A seated figure has settled into a chair and seems sunk in deep sleep; one hand touches something it plainly does not register. The face stays calm and slack. Around it stand several figures in formal dress — hats, jackets — watching the sleeper closely or with astonishment. The layout is deliberately lopsided, the seated person drawing every gaze. Greys spread evenly across the print without harsh contrasts; the gradations come from the varying density of the lithographic stones.
Context
Daumier drew this lithograph for the satirical magazine "Le Petit Journal pour Rire," which carried humorous and socially critical material. The sleepwalker was a popular subject in the nineteenth century, since hypnosis and somnambulism were debated in medicine as well as in entertainment. The caricature takes up that contemporary fascination and presents a group confronting the sleeping figure with bewilderment.
Impact
Exaggerated faces and the odd situation give the sheet a humorous, ironic edge. The sleeper's composure contrasts with the curious bystanders, and from that contrast comes a comic tension.
Technique
Lithograph on newsprint, fourth state of four. Tonal values arise from drawing of varying fattiness on the lithographic stone, which permits fine gradations. Crisp contours and the reduced palette strengthen the caricatural effect.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)