–But look, I don't see a thing in your magic lantern! –Just be a bit more patient... the curtain isn't up yet., from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, May 25, 1866
Original title: –But look, I don't see a thing in your magic lantern! –Just be a bit more patient... the curtain isn't up yet., from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, May 25, 1866
kurzbeschreibung
Honoré Daumier made this lithograph in 1866, gathering a crowd of onlookers around a large object that has been draped and covered. The joke comes from the caricature itself and from the dialogue printed beneath it. The sheet was printed on newsprint, and this is the second state of two.
Description
Figures dressed in a mix of traditional and contemporary clothes stand around a big concealed thing. Some of them hold the curtain; others simply wait. Text fills the background, marking the page as part of a newspaper. This black-and-white lithograph stacks its figures in foreground and background, and the caption underneath pushes the caricatural style to the front.
Context
Daumier brought the print out in the satirical journal Le Charivari, for which he regularly drew political and social caricatures. It appeared on 25 May 1866 as part of the series 'News of the day'. Lithographs on newsprint were a common medium for satirical prints in the nineteenth century.
Impact
The caricature thrives on the tension between expectation and a revelation that keeps being postponed. Image and dialogue together sharpen the comic effect and coax a smile. Clear contours and expressive figures keep the black-and-white lithograph lively.
Technique
Lithography on newsprint: the artist draws with a greasy crayon on stone, and the stone is then printed. The second state of two (Hazard & Delteil) refers to later impressions with changes. The process allows the fine lines and shading typical of Daumier's caricatures.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)