They think they might be able to overtake the train!!!, from 'News of the day,' published in "Le Charivari"
Original title: They think they might be able to overtake the train!!!, from 'News of the day,' published in "Le Charivari"
kurzbeschreibung
Honoré Daumier's 1870 lithograph stages a race between progress and bureaucracy: a coach drawn by two horses, labeled 'COMMISSION EXTRA PARLEMENTAIRE', trundles along while a steam locomotive flying a banner reading 'PROGRES' puffs in the distance. The sheet belongs to the series 'News of the day' and appeared in 'Le Charivari'. Printed as a lithograph on wove paper, it survives here in the second state.
Description
Along a road edged by a low ridge of hills comes a horse-drawn coach, its passengers casting anxious looks at the steam engine that trails smoke behind them, a banner marked 'PROGRES' in tow. Across the lower margin runs the caption 'Et ils veulent rattraper le train !!!'. The layout sets the lumbering carriage squarely against the modern locomotive.
Context
Daumier drew this lithograph in May 1870, at a moment of political reform in France. The 'Commission extra parlementaire' was a body outside parliament, convened to draft constitutional changes. By pitting its slow, cumbersome progress against the technological advance the train stands for, Daumier mocks the commission's inefficiency.
Impact
The coach's forward lurch and the rising smoke pull the eye into the action at once. What makes it funny is the gap between the old-fashioned vehicle and the modern engine, and the worried faces of the passengers sharpen the irony. The political jab comes through with the smile.
Technique
This print was made by lithography on wove paper: the artist draws with a greasy chalk on a stone, which is then printed. It is the second state of the print, as noted in the Delteil reference. Working in black and white heightens the contrasts and the caricatural punch.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)