The Accordion: A Blow to Music, from "Musical Studies"
Original title: The Accordion: A Blow to Music, from "Musical Studies"
kurzbeschreibung
This print by Honoré Daumier, made on 9 December 1865, presents an accordion player with two listeners. The black-and-white lithograph on newsprint belongs to the series "Études Musicales."
Description
A man with a caricatured, exaggerated face stands front and center, playing an accordion that reads in the picture like a music bubble. Two people behind him follow the performance, one of them evidently laughing. The room stays bare: a wall, a table with another instrument resting on it. The layout pulls the eye toward the exchange between musician and audience, with no strong shadows or highlights.
Context
Daumier published this lithograph in the 1860s in the satirical journal "Le Charivari" as part of his "Études Musicales" series. The artist was known for his political and social caricatures, which often took aim at Parisian life and its quirks. With humor, the series turned to the music world and the listening habits of the day. Three states of the print exist; this copy is the third.
Impact
The humor comes from the player's twisted features and the laughing figure behind him. Even, bright lighting and the bare surroundings push the comic interplay of the figures to the fore. The print thus feels mocking and entertaining at once in its view of music-making.
Technique
For his caricatures Daumier often turned to lithography, as here, drawn on newsprint. The process allowed fine lines and quick, precise drawings suited to satirical images. Printing was in black and white, as was usual at the time, which sharpens the contrasts of the caricature.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)