How curious, he doesn't seem to be very happy taking his vacation, from "News of the Day"
Original title: How curious, he doesn't seem to be very happy taking his vacation, from "News of the Day"
kurzbeschreibung
Honoré Daumier made this lithograph in August 1866 for the series 'News of the Day.' A man with a walking stick and luggage crosses a landscape together with a boy. The black-and-white print on newsprint plays on the irony that the traveler, though on holiday, looks anything but pleased.
Description
In the foreground walks a man with a worried expression, holding a stick and carrying a bag over his shoulder. Beside him strides a small boy in simple clothes. The background opens onto a landscape with trees under an open sky; in the distance another man with a hat and stick can be made out. The lithograph renders the scene entirely in black and white, as was usual for prints of this kind.
Context
Daumier drew this sheet for the satirical journal 'Le Charivari,' where his series 'News of the Day' appeared; it bears the date 13 August 1866 and survives in the second of two printed states (Delteil). With humor the artist takes aim at nineteenth-century bourgeois travel and holiday culture, a theme that recurs often in his caricatures.
Impact
An ironic tension arises between the expected joy of a holiday and the protagonist's obvious reluctance. The spare linework and expressive faces make the print a telling example of Daumier's satirical hand.
Technique
For his caricatures Daumier often turned to lithography on newsprint. This printing method allowed fine gradations and clear outlines, as needed for reproduction in the press. The second state suggests revisions from the first printing.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)