← Honoré Daumier

In the middle of the river: Come on, Balochet, give it a push!... You mustn't forget that some forty Parisians are watching us from the bridge up there!, from 'The bathers,' published in Le Petit Journal pour Rire, July 30, 1864

Original title: In the middle of the river: Come on, Balochet, give it a push!... You mustn't forget that some forty Parisians are watching us from the bridge up there!, from 'The bathers,' published in Le Petit Journal pour Rire, July 30, 1864

Artist

Honoré Daumier

Date

July 30, 1864

Medium

Lithograph on newsprint; third state of three (Deltiel)

Dimensions

Image: 6 5/16 × 9 5/8 in. (16 × 24.5 cm) Sheet: 8 7/16 × 12 1/4 in. (21.4 × 31.1 cm)

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1962

kurzbeschreibung

Unlike the other sheets in Daumier's 'Les Baigneurs' series, this 1864 lithograph takes place not on the bank but out on the water: several people crouch in a boat while a bridge with strollers appears in the background. Three stylized heads drift in the river, watched closely by the boat's occupants.

Description

A boat with several figures dominates the center; their bodies are captured in motion, and one man gestures as he addresses the swimmers. A bridge with numerous pedestrians staggers the space toward the back. At the bottom, three heads emerge from the water, their features exaggerated and comically distorted. The inscribed text 'UNE PLEINE EAU. — Voyons, de la grâce, Balochet, du moelleux dans la coupe; songe que du haut de ce pont quarante Parisiens nous contemplant!..' refers to the observers on the bridge above. Black and white, bold strokes, harsh contrasts.

Context

The print was published on July 30, 1864, in 'Le Petit Journal pour Rire' as part of the series 'Les Baigneurs.' Daumier worked on it during a period when open-air bathing and summer leisure were gaining popularity in Paris. This is the third state of three (Delteil), printed on newsprint. The caricature takes up the public display of bathing, a topic debated in nineteenth-century Parisian society.

Impact

The humorous exuberance and ironic caption make the sheet immediately comic. An amusing tension arises between the elegant boaters and the clumsy swimmers. Clear lines and the reduced color palette give the print a graphic concision that supports its satirical message.

Technique

Daumier used lithography: he drew on the stone with greasy chalk, which was then printed. The paper is newsprint, as was customary for a magazine publication. Cross-hatching and hard contrasts are typical of Daumier's printmaking.

AI-generated description text

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