← Honoré Daumier

See, Mr. Réac, it is quite enought!, from 'News of the day,' published in "Le Charivari"

Original title: See, Mr. Réac, it is quite enought!, from 'News of the day,' published in "Le Charivari"

Artist

Honoré Daumier

Date

March 30, 1871

Medium

Gillotage on newsprint

Dimensions

Image: 9 9/16 × 8 7/16 in. (24.3 × 21.4 cm) Sheet: 10 15/16 × 9 3/4 in. (27.8 × 24.8 cm)

Credit line

Bequest of Edwin De T. Bechtel, 1957

kurzbeschreibung

Honoré Daumier's 1871 caricature 'Sehen Sie, Herr Réac, es ist genug!' places two figures before a graveyard backdrop. Produced as a gillotage on newsprint, it belongs to the series 'News of the day', which appeared in 'Le Charivari'.

Description

A figure on the left, wrapped in a long robe and hat, extends a hand and turns away from the person on the right, who in a suit grabs the other's left arm. Crosses in the background point to a cemetery. Above the scene stands 'PARIS', below it the French sentence 'Voyons, monsieur Réac, il y en a pourtant bien assez!'.

Context

The cartoon was made in 1871 during the Paris Commune, a period of political turmoil. Daumier worked regularly for the satirical newspaper 'Le Charivari', where the series 'News of the day' was published. The figure 'Réac' stands for reactionaries who opposed the Commune.

Impact

Exaggerated gestures and the ironic caption give the print a humorous yet thoughtful tone. An everyday scene and the graveyard background combine into a grim comedy that mirrors the tragedy of the time.

Technique

Gillotage, a relief printing process, allowed drawings to be transferred to printing plates. Printing on newsprint matched the mass distribution of satirical sheets in the 19th century.

AI-generated description text

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)