Not everything in country life smells like roses... especially when having to take care of the manure, from "The joys of country life"
Original title: Not everything in country life smells like roses... especially when having to take care of the manure, from "The joys of country life"
kurzbeschreibung
A man strains to haul a heavily loaded cart while a woman beside him seems utterly unbothered — Honoré Daumier's 1865 lithograph turns rural life into a wry joke. The print belongs to the series "The Joys of Country Life" and dwells on the drudgery of everyday work in the countryside.
Description
On the left a woman stands in a long dress and a broad hat, her face radiating ease. Right next to her a man in a suit and wide-brimmed hat struggles to drag a wagon loaded with excrement. Trees and clouds fill out the rural backdrop. The whole view stays black and white, as is typical for a lithograph.
Context
Daumier drew this sheet in September 1865 for the series "The Joys of Country Life," which undercuts the sentimental image of rural existence with satire. At a time when city dwellers romanticized the countryside, the artist sets the hardship of farm work against the ideal. Daumier, known for his social criticism, lays bare the gap between wish and reality. The lithograph was printed on newsprint and appeared in the second state.
Impact
The contrast between the carefree woman and the laboring man makes for a comic effect. At the same time the image carries a critical message about the harsh reality of country work, which contradicts the romantic ideal. The stark black-and-white drawing sharpens the satirical point.
Technique
For this work Daumier used lithography on newsprint: a fatty crayon is drawn on a stone and then printed. He relied on this technique for caricatures that appeared in newspapers and magazines. The present version is the second state of two (Delteil), which points to a reworking of the stone.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)