Nationality
French
Artist Dates
1808-1879
Title of Work
La Garde-Malade
Preview
Date of Work
1842
Medium
Lithograph
Signature
Initialed in the lithographic stone.
Identification #
2016.001.1007
Collection/Provenance
University Art Collections: Lilly Jacobson Collection, Art & Design Dept.
Status
Stored: Lily Jacobson Collection Box 21
Location
UND Art Collections Repository
Artist Bio
Honoré Daumier was a prolific painter, printmaker and caricaturist born in 1808 in Marseille, France. In 1822 Daumier studied under Alexandre Lenoir, an artist and archaeologist that was dedicated to saving French monuments during the French Revolution. One year later he went on to attend the Académie Suisse. His works are best known for commenting and critiquing on the 19th century social and political life in France. Honoré Daumier's works can be found at the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Rijksmuseum, and several other prominent collections internationally. The University of North Dakota holds more than 1600 works by Daumier, the vast majority of which are part of the Lilly Jacobson Collection, which can be accessed here: https://commons.und.edu/daumier-prints/.
Aside from making powerful politically-charged images that reflected his pro-republican views, Daumier satirized lawyers, doctors, businessmen, professors, and lifestyles of the bourgeoisie. Although the inscriptions that accompany Daumier’s lithographs were not written by him, one might assume they mostly conveyed the spirit of the artist’s intent behind his images.
Additional Information
Series: Bohémiens de Paris
Published in Le Charivari
Original text: LA GARDE-MALADE. Décidément, il n'y a que les fruitières pour vous procurer de belles connaissances. Un épileptique, un hydrophobe et une folle!..... si l'épicier pouvait me faire avoir avec ça la maladie de poitrine qu'il m'a promise, c'est ça qui me ferait joliment du bien!
During the mid-19th century, nurses were not yet professionally trained and most came from working-class or rural backgrounds. According the caption, the nurse eagerly seeks an income while disregarding potential health risks to herself—perhaps, due to her ignorance about contagious diseases.
Daumier did not write the captions to go with his lithographs, which might lead to questions about the specific intent behind some of his images. The nurse portrayed in this print appeared elsewhere, both as a custodian and as a prostitute, with different captions for each.
Included in the Honoré Daumier III: Law, Medicine, and Social Satire exhibition, 2018.
Rights
Images are provided for educational purposes only and may not be reproduced for commercial use. Images may be protected by artist copyright. A credit line is required to be used for any public non-commercial educational purpose. The credit line must include, “Image courtesy of the University of North Dakota.”