Artist

Honoré Daumier

Nationality

French

Artist Dates

1808-1879

Title of Work

Yeux noirs, front haut, teint brun, barbe, favoris …

Preview

Date of Work

1834

Medium

Sur blanc

Signature

Initialed in the lithographic stone.

Identification #

2016.001.0156

Collection/Provenance

Gift from the estate of Lilly Jacobson

Art & Design Study Collection

Status

Stored: Lilly Jacobson Collection Box 1

Location

UND Art Collections Office, Hughes Fine Arts Center

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

Published in La Cariacture

Original text: Yeux noirs, front haut, teint brun, barbe, favoris.....c'est bon!... on te reconnaîtra, mon gaillard.

Notes:

This print was perhaps inspired by uprisings that had recently occurred in Lyon and Paris. If so, perhaps the man in bed would represent a badly injured insurgent. Daumier also alludes to King Louis Philippe by portraying him as an insensitive doctor who literally turns his back on the suffering patient. The nurse in the room turns her back too.

Included in the Daumier III: Law, Medicine, and Social Satire exhibition.

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.”