← Honoré Daumier

A bite, what luck! – I forbid you to catch a fish before I do, don't forget, I am your Vice-President!, from 'The fishing club,' published in Le Charivari, January 31, 1866

Original title: –A bite, what luck! –I forbid you to catch a fish before I do, don't forget, I am your Vice-President!, from 'The fishing club,' published in Le Charivari, January 31, 1866

Artist

Honoré Daumier

Date

January 31, 1866

Medium

Lithograph on newsprint; second state of two (Delteil)

Dimensions

Image: 9 3/8 × 8 5/8 in. (23.8 × 21.9 cm) Sheet: 11 3/4 × 10 9/16 in. (29.8 × 26.8 cm)

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1962

kurzbeschreibung

A kneeling angler with a rod, and a man standing behind him gesturing forcefully: this 1866 lithograph by Honoré Daumier belongs to the series 'The Fishing Club' and appeared in the magazine Le Charivari. Printed on newsprint, the image stages club life as satire.

Description

In the foreground an angler kneels at the water's edge, rod in hand, hat on his head, jacket buttoned. Behind him stands a second man, also with a rod and a bag slung over his shoulder, his hand cutting through the air. The two figures stand out clearly from one another; further back, other people with fishing lines can be made out. Below the image runs the French text: 'Ca mord, quelle chance! Je vous défends d'attraper un poisson avant moi, n'oubliez pas que je suis votre Vice-Président'.

Context

On 31 January 1866 the French satirical magazine Le Charivari published the print—a medium for which Daumier supplied political and social caricatures for years. Within 'The Fishing Club' series, bourgeois leisure and the hierarchy of clubs come under parodic fire. The figure of the vice-president serves as a vehicle for exposing everyday authority and vanity to ridicule. The publication history and the classification as second state (Delteil) are documented.

Impact

The print is funny because a claim to power is asserted while fishing—and falls flat. The spare arrangement and clear contours bring the interplay of the two men to the fore, so the joke lands without detour. The contrast between the relaxed posture of the kneeling man and the flailing gesture of the standing one adds to the humour.

Technique

The lithograph was printed on newsprint—the process Daumier used to circulate his series in Le Charivari. The second state (Delteil) points to a reworking of the stone. Monochrome and evenly lit, the print is typical of newsprint: contours stay sharp, shading is restrained.

AI-generated description text

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)