November, month of fog (Matthieu de Laensberg), from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, November 14, 1867
Original title: November, month of fog (Matthieu de Laensberg), from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, November 14, 1867
kurzbeschreibung
Honoré Daumier's lithograph of 14 November 1867 sets a foggy street scene around a single central source of light. It is the second state of a lithograph on newsprint, published in the satirical journal Le Charivari.
Description
A lantern-like form occupies the middle and throws bright light in every direction, washing its surroundings into a diffuse haze. Around it several figures appear as silhouettes, moving this way and that, giving the scene a restless, almost chaotic air. The arrangement is lopsided: the light sits at the center while the figures fan outward from it. Daumier keeps everything in monochrome grays, with slender rays carrying the light and lending the moment a dramatic, eerie mood.
Context
Daumier made this lithograph for the satirical paper Le Charivari, where he regularly published political and social caricatures. The title points to Matthieu de Laensberg, a pseudonym common in popular almanacs. The sheet dates from 1867, a period of political tension in France under Napoleon III, and likely comments on the confusion of society at the time.
Impact
The clash between harsh light and dark, moving silhouettes produces an unsettling, almost spectral atmosphere. The viewer is drawn into the foggy scene and shares the figures' disorientation, as though the light were driving them on.
Technique
For this lithograph Daumier drew with a greasy crayon on a limestone block, from which the print was then taken. The work survives on newsprint, the usual support for Le Charivari publications. It is the second state of the lithograph, which points to later reworking or corrections.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)