This is just a way to strain your back, from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, August 28, 1868
Original title: This is just a way to strain your back, from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, August 28, 1868
kurzbeschreibung
Several people clamber over a tall vertical pole topped with a waving flag — a grotesque balancing act that Honoré Daumier drew in 1868 for the series 'News of the Day' in the satirical magazine Le Charivari. Political allusion and comic exaggeration go hand in hand. This impression is a proof of the second of two states, reworked with pen and ink, red chalk, and graphite on newsprint.
Description
Perched on a narrow rising structure that looks like a pole and carries a flag at the top, several figures have distributed themselves. One squats, another dangles sideways, others clutch the shaft — the situation feels shaky and animated. At lower right a man stands with arms flung up, apparently accompanying the goings-on loudly, while a crowd watches from behind. Grays and browns dominate the sheet, as is usual for lithographs; the light falls evenly, shadows are almost entirely absent. Exaggerated gestures and the strange distribution of the figures reveal the caricatural approach.
Context
On 28 August 1868 the sheet appeared in Le Charivari, the French satirical paper for which Daumier supplied political and social caricatures over many years. Within the series 'News of the Day' he took up current events and everyday absurdities of the Second Empire under Napoleon III. Lithography served him as a mass medium for commenting on authority and social ills with often subtle wit. That this is a proof of the second state with handwritten additions allows conclusions about Daumier's graphic working method.
Impact
The absurd situation and the overdone postures of the balancers first produce comedy. Beneath it runs a quiet critique of the insecurity and ridiculousness of political and social conditions, inviting further thought. Because the color remains limited to gray and brown, the linework and gestures of the figures stand out clearly.
Technique
The motif was printed lithographically; afterward Daumier reworked the impression with pen and brown ink, red chalk, and graphite on newsprint. It is the second of two states, a proof (Delteil) with handwritten corrections. Print and manual intervention together show how experimentally Daumier approached lithography and made several states for a motif.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)