Election reform in England, from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, February 26, 1866
Original title: Election reform in England, from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, February 26, 1866
kurzbeschreibung
A scuffle at a doorway: three men in the foreground fight over who may open it or shut it, while other figures look on from behind. Honoré Daumier drew this lithograph for the 26 February 1866 issue of Le Charivari, taking aim at the English debate over electoral reform.
Description
Up front, a gentleman in a suit and hat pulls a door open while a second man in a dark shirt braces himself against it. An older fellow in a white shirt and head covering stays outside, flailing his arms. Behind the trio, several people sit watching the performance in a panelled room with a window. The arrangement pushes the situation toward the grotesque, as was usual for the satirical journal.
Context
The sheet appeared on 26 February 1866 in the French satirical magazine Le Charivari. It accompanies the debate then under way over electoral reform in England, which in 1867 led to the Second Reform Act. For this journal Daumier repeatedly took up political and social subjects.
Impact
The struggle at the door generates a tense, almost slapstick energy among those involved. Their exaggerated gestures contrast with the calm of the onlookers, which makes the image seem at once silly and insistent.
Technique
The motif was printed as a lithograph on newsprint, a common process at the time for mass distribution in satirical papers. The image area measures 24 × 20.1 cm, the sheet 35.9 × 28.7 cm.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)