Overloaded! It is going to burst!
Original title: Overloaded! It is going to burst!, from 'News of the day,' published in "Le Charivari"
kurzbeschreibung
A man sits in a boat holding a net packed to the brim with people. The print is titled "Overloaded! It Will Burst!" by Honoré Daumier and dates from April 16, 1867. This is the third and final state (Delteil), published in the satirical journal Le Charivari.
Description
Up front, a man in traditional dress crouches in the boat, an outsized net full of people spread out before him. The captives crowd together in every kind of posture; some look bewildered, others alarmed. The net is stuffed so full it seems ready to split at any moment, an impression the caption only reinforces. Beyond the boat the picture space stays bare: just water and sky. The arrangement pulls the eye toward the bulging net and the fisherman's figure.
Context
Daumier drew this caricature for Le Charivari, a French satirical journal widely read in the nineteenth century. It appeared on April 16, 1867, within the series "News of the day." The artist was known for socially critical and political mockery that took aim at social ills. The sheet was made under the rule of Napoleon III, at a time when political satire flourished in France.
Impact
The overfull net raises a smile, but the joke has a critical edge: the exaggeration points to social overload. Clearly organized and peopled with expressive figures, the image reads without detours. The eye is drawn first to the bulging net, then moves to the fisherman and on across the sparse surroundings.
Technique
The sheet was printed as a lithograph on newsprint, a common process for caricature in the nineteenth century. Daumier used it to achieve delicate lines and gradations of shading that bring out the figures' expressions in particular. The print stays black and white, as was usual for the process.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)