ALL: Master Collection List
Nationality
French
Artist Dates
1808-1879
Preview
Date of Work
1851
Medium
Lithograph
Signature
Initialed in the lithographic stone.
Height
10"
Width
14 1/2"
Collection/Provenance
Art & Design Study Collection
Status
Stored: FF_006_T
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: PHYSIONOMIES TRAGIQUES
Published in Le Charivari
Original text: ATHALIE "Mais je n'ai plus trouvé qu'un horrible mélange "D'os et de chair meurtris et traînés dans la fange....!"
English: ATHALIA "But I only found a horrible mixture "Bruised bones and flesh dragged through the mire ....!"
Lithograph, published in Le Charivari, initialed in the lithographic stone
Purchased with funds from the Myers Foundations
University Art Collections: Art & Design Study Collections
Daumier’s lithograph shows scene from a performance of Athalie, the final tragedy of seventh-century French writer Jean Racine. What is perhaps most interesting in the print are the high-contrast illumination effects that Daumier reveals that suggest the “modern” use of gas light—rather than oil lamps, which had been utilized previously for theatrical lighting.
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.”