Quiet!! My daughter is entering in communication with Dante, from 'The spiritualists,' published in Le Charivari, November 4, 1865
Original title: Quiet!! My daughter is entering in communication with Dante, from 'The spiritualists,' published in Le Charivari, November 4, 1865
kurzbeschreibung
Honoré Daumier made this lithograph, "Still! Meine Tochter tritt in Kommunikation mit Dante" (Quiet! My Daughter Is Entering into Communication with Dante), in 1865 as part of his series "Die Spiritisten" (The Spiritualists). The print stages a comic encounter: two men talk in the foreground while, behind them, a woman writes at a table and several onlookers watch.
Description
At the left, a man in a suit stands upright; at the right, a bespectacled man wearing a tie hands him something. Behind the pair a woman sits at a table, writing, while other figures gather around her and follow what is going on. The room suggests an office or a conference hall. Everything stays black and white, the light is even, and no shadows are discernible.
Context
The sheet appeared on November 4, 1865, in the French satirical journal Le Charivari, within the series "Les Spiritistes." Daumier was taking aim at the spiritualism widespread at the time, a movement that claimed to put people in contact with the dead. The scene pokes fun at the contemporary enthusiasm for séances.
Impact
The caricature is funny and ironic because it sets the figures' solemn manner against the absurd business of summoning spirits. The clear arrangement draws the eye to the exchange between the men and to the writing woman, so the scene stays lively and satirical at once.
Technique
Lithograph on newsprint, executed in the third of three states. The process allows fine lines and an even range of gray tones, characteristic of Daumier's satirical prints. The paper is thin with a slight texture, as was usual for newspaper supplements.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)