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.
Collection/Provenance
University Art Collections: Lilly Jacobson Collection, Art & Design Dept.
Status
Displayed
Location
UND Art Collections Gallery at the Empire Arts Center
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.