Poor extra parliamentary commission! They probably just wanted to make room for some victory bulletins
Original title: Poor extra parliamentary commission! They probably just wanted to make room for some victory bulletins, from 'News of the day,' published in Le Charivari, July 28, 1870
kurzbeschreibung
Unlike many contemporary caricatures that mock individual politicians, Honoré Daumier's 1870 lithograph puts an entire institution in the picture: a heavily laden figure with an overflowing backpack. The satirical print comments on French politics immediately before the Franco-Prussian War and appeared in the magazine Le Charivari.
Description
A tired, worried-looking man trudges through a landscape littered with papers and documents. On his large backpack are the words 'COMMISSION EXTRA PARLEMENTAIRE', along with other texts and symbols. Behind him, other burdened figures can be made out, while inscriptions such as 'ACTUALITÉS' and 'POURQUOI DES AVEUX EN EVASION D'UN NIVEAU BORLIC' appear. The layout feels restless; harsh light-dark contrasts emphasize the burden and the waste.
Context
The lithograph is dated 28 July 1870, only a few days after France declared war on Prussia. Daumier targets the extra-parliamentary commission that had just been set up to prepare political reforms but was rendered meaningless by the outbreak of war. The print was published in the satirical magazine Le Charivari, for which Daumier regularly drew political and social commentary.
Impact
The effect oscillates between comedy and sympathy: the overloaded figure exposes the absurdity of the political situation. Through caricatural exaggeration and the dense arrangement, criticism of political instability becomes immediately clear.
Technique
Daumier used lithography on newsprint, a common process for his satirical prints. This is the second state of two (Delteil), suggesting the printing plate was reworked. The black-and-white execution uses the tension between dark ink and light paper to sharpen the print's message.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)