← Honoré Daumier

Plate 1: Bertrand, I adore industry...., from 'Caricaturana,' published in Les Robert Macaires

Original title: Plate 1: Bertrand, I adore industry...., from 'Caricaturana,' published in Les Robert Macaires

Artist

Honoré Daumier

Date

1838

Medium

Color lithograph on wove paper; fourth state of five (Delteil)

Dimensions

Image: 8 15/16 × 10 3/16 in. (22.7 × 25.9 cm) Sheet: 10 3/8 × 13 7/16 in. (26.4 × 34.1 cm)

Credit line

Gift of Edwin De T. Bechtel, 1953

kurzbeschreibung

Honoré Daumier made this color lithograph in 1838 as a plate from the 'Caricaturana' series. It shows Bertrand and Robert Macaire in a plain courtyard before a building; Bertrand holds a tool, Robert Macaire a broom. The image was printed as a color lithograph on wove paper, in the fourth of five states.

Description

Two exaggerated caricature figures dominate the picture: on the left a taller man in red trousers, a striped jacket and a cap, holding a stick or tool; on the right a shorter one in ragged clothes with a cap, waistcoat and broom. The background stays bare, merely suggesting a house without detail. The colors are muted, the light falls evenly with no hard shadows. Below the scene runs a text that adds to the humorous effect.

Context

The plate belongs to the 'Caricaturana' series, which Daumier created in 1838 together with the dramatist and actor Charles Philipon. At its center stands the parodic figure of Robert Macaire, a crook and impostor from a successful play, used to satirize bourgeois society under the July Monarchy. The work was published in the journal 'Les Robert Macaires'; it shows Daumier's typical critical stance toward social ills.

Impact

The exaggerated figures and the spare setting draw attention to the interplay between the two men, which veers between comedy and menace. Muted colors and the plain background focus the viewer on the caricature, whose bite the accompanying text below the image further sharpens.

Technique

The color lithograph on wove paper is made by printing from several stones or plates that lay down color layers one over another. In this fourth of five states, the development of the print can be read, since color and detail were further worked out in later states. Daumier used lithography to produce satirical images quickly and precisely in large editions.

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