Nationality
French
Artist Dates
1808-1879
Title of Work
Messieurs, voici la vérité, je suis un petit voleur, mais Mr. Macaire en est un grand …
Preview
Date of Work
1838
Medium
Lithograph
Signature
Initialed in the lithographic stone.
Identification #
2016.001.0617
Collection/Provenance
University Art Collections: Lilly Jacobson Collection, Art & Design Dept.
Status
Displayed: Second Floor, near the Fredrikson & Byron Law Firm Office suite
Location
UND School of Law
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: Album Caricaturana
Published in Le Charivari
Original text: Messieurs, voici la vérité, je suis un petit voleur, mais Mr. Macaire en est un grand…… J’ai chipotté, chipotaillé des riens, il a grinché, floué, agioté sur une grande échelle, j’ai gagné la misère et la police correctionnelle, il a gagné des millions et il m’accuse. Le tribunal n’ayant pas à juger le grand voleur, condamne le petit, et Macaire se retire la tête haute.
The lithograph features the unprincipled Robert Macaire (who Daumier adopted from a popular melodrama). Here the villain faces a challenge in court from someone claiming to be just a “petty thief,” but much less of a criminal than Macaire. Perhaps Daumier is suggesting through the fictional Macaire that the French justice system is corrupt—punishing minor law breakers, while overlooking major ones.
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.”