Misantropie (1833)

Honoré Daumier prints bring the biting wit and deep humanity of 19th-century France onto your walls. Daumier was the great French caricaturist of his age, whose lithographs mocked kings, lawyers and the bourgeoisie, and a powerful realist painter admired by Baudelaire and by later generations. Our collection of fine art prints covers his satirical lithographs, his paintings of ordinary Parisians and his Don Quixote scenes.

About Honoré Daumier

Honoré-Victorin Daumier was born in Marseille on 26 February 1808 into a poor family. By twelve he was working, first for a bailiff and then in a bookshop frequented by artists, where he began to draw. He had some guidance from Alexandre Lenoir, attended the Académie Suisse and learned lithography, and by twenty was producing advertisements and caricatures.

After the July Revolution of 1830 he drew for Charles Philipon's satirical papers, mocking King Louis-Philippe and his court. His caricature Gargantua earned him several months in prison in 1832. When the September Laws of 1835 banned political caricature, he turned in Le Charivari to wider satire of Parisian society, inventing the swindler Robert Macaire and lampooning lawyers, doctors and the middle classes. He also modelled clay busts of politicians, the Célébrités du Juste Milieu.

From the 1840s he painted more seriously, befriending Baudelaire, Corot, Courbet and Delacroix and spending summers at Barbizon and Valmondois. His paintings were largely ignored by the public. Settling at Valmondois in 1865, he faced failing eyesight and poverty; the Third Republic granted him a pension in 1877, and a major exhibition of his paintings was held in 1878. He died at Valmondois in February 1879. Over his life he made some 4,000 lithographs, 500 paintings and 100 sculptures.

Style and Subjects

Daumier's lithographs are drawn with a bold, expressive line that exaggerates faces and bodies to reveal character: pompous politicians with swollen heads, scheming lawyers, smug shopkeepers. His humour is sharp but often warm toward ordinary people.

His paintings are darker and more serious, loosely associated with Realism: laundresses climbing steps from the river, crowded railway carriages, chess players, actors and Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, built from strong light and shade and quick, sculptural brushwork.

Famous Works

• Gargantua (1831). His caricature of King Louis-Philippe that sent him to prison.
• The Legislative Belly (1834). A satirical group portrait of the politicians of his day.
• Rue Transnonain, 15 April 1834 (1834). A grim lithograph of a real event in Paris, one of his most powerful images.
• Robert Macaire (1836–38). His series on a cheerful swindler who tries every trade.
• The Third-Class Carriage (c. 1862–64), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Poor travellers crowded on a wooden bench, his most famous painting.
• The Laundress (1863), Musée d'Orsay, Paris. A washerwoman and child climbing from the Seine, painted in strong light and shade.
• Don Quixote and Sancho Panza (c. 1868), Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich. The knight and his squire, a subject he returned to again and again.

Decorating with Daumier Prints

Daumier's satirical lithographs make a witty gallery wall in a study, office or home library, and his lawyer prints are a classic choice for a legal office. Their black-and-white drawing suits both traditional and modern interiors.

His paintings, like The Third-Class Carriage or Don Quixote's Vigil, bring depth and seriousness to a living room or reading room with warm, earthy colours.

FAQ

Who was Honoré Daumier?

Honoré Daumier (1808–1879) was a French caricaturist, painter and sculptor whose lithographs satirised French politics and society, and whose paintings are now seen among the great works of 19th-century Realism.

Why was Daumier sent to prison?

In 1832 he was jailed for several months for his caricature Gargantua, a particularly offensive depiction of King Louis-Philippe.

What is Daumier's most famous painting?

The Third-Class Carriage, showing poor travellers on a railway bench, is his best-known painting; versions are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Canada.

Where can I see Daumier's work?

The Musée d'Orsay, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Canada and the Bavarian State Painting Collections in Munich hold his paintings and sculptures.

Related Artists

• Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot: friend and fellow painter at Barbizon and Valmondois
• Gustave Courbet: fellow Realist and friend
• Eugène Delacroix: painter who admired his work
• Paul Gavarni: fellow French caricaturist of Paris life
• Charles Philipon: publisher of La Caricature and Le Charivari