Are you sure at least that I will be comfortable?, from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, August 14, 1866
Original title: Are you sure at least that I will be comfortable?, from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, August 14, 1866
kurzbeschreibung
Honoré Daumier's 1866 lithograph caricatures Napoleon III beside an allegorical female figure. It appeared in the satirical journal Le Charivari and is printed in black and white.
Description
A seated figure wearing a cap and a coat lettered 'NAPOLEON' dominates the foreground, gazing to the left. Beside him stands a woman in a long robe with a floral wreath, holding a branch and also looking left. A chair and a small table suggest a room without filling it. The layout is lopsided, and the caricatural faces are stretched into exaggerations; along the bottom runs the French caption 'Etes vous sûre au moins que je serai bien assise?'
Context
The lithograph was published on 14 August 1866 in Le Charivari, the French satirical journal. It belongs to Daumier's series 'News of the day' (Actualités), which took up current political and social matters. The print dates from the years when Napoleon III ruled as Emperor of the French and Daumier was making his name with critical caricature.
Impact
Exaggerated features and the odd pairing of the two figures draw a laugh, yet the scene leaves an ironic aftertaste. Tension builds between the seated Napoleon and the standing woman and pushes toward the absurd, prompting reflection on power and comfort.
Technique
The image was made as a lithograph on newsprint, in the third state of three (Delteil). That printing method allowed the delicate lines and shading on which the caricatural effect depends. The image measures 24.2 × 21.9 cm; the sheet measures 30 × 26.7 cm.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)