Honoré Daumier was born in Marseilles into the family of a glazier, who was fond of poetry and even wrote his own verses. In 1814, the family moved to Paris. Daumier started to study art in 1822 under the renowned artist and archaeologist Alexandre Lenoir. The financial situation forced Daumier to earn his living as a delivery boy, while at his spare time he sketched at the Louvre. About 1828, he learned the technique of lithography and began to work for small publishing houses. After the revolution of 1830 in the atmosphere of freedom of speech in France the role of mass media grew and the art of political satire flourished. In 1830, Daumier started to work for Philipon’s “Caricature” and “Le Charivari.”
A caricaturist famous for his scathing social commentary, Daumier earned his reputation primarily as a draughtsman. It was not until a posthumous exhibition held in Paris in 1878 that his paintings gained wide recognition. While Daumier’s political cartoons are often pointed—savagely precise in their references and implications—many of his paintings rely on ambiguity and nuance. This unfinished composition has been variously identified as a dramatic scene of escape and a mundane illustration of a house painter at work. With its bold, graphic style and equivocal subject, this painting is among the most shockingly modern pictures produced in the mid-nineteenth century.
For more biographical notes see part 1, and for earlier works, see parts 1 - 6 also.
This is part 7 of a major 23-part series on the works of Honoré Daumier:
1849 Actualités (Current Affairs):
1849 Les Femmes Socialistes (Socialist Women):
1849-50 Les Représentans Représentés (Represented Representatives):
1849 Souvenirs du Congrès de la Paix (Souvenirs of the Peace Congress):
1850 Idylles Parlementaires (Parliamentary Idylls):
1849-50 Various:
1849 Actualités (Current Affairs):
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| 1849 No.18. L'Heure de la Rentrée en Classe. lithograph 27.5 x 36 cm ( image ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1849 No.20. Le jeune Estancelin est obligé de rentrer en classe! lithograph 27.4 x 35. cm ( image ) Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris |
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| 1849 No.23. En Orient. Echange de notes diplomatiques et de signaux télégraphiques. hand-coloured lithograph 27.6 x 36 cm |
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| 1849 No.49. Le Chevalier Véron défiant le Charivari... lithograph 27.4 x 35.7 cm Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris |
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| 1849 No.50. Le Nouveau St Sébastien. Vierge et martyr. lithograph 27.3 x 35.7 cm ( image ) Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris |
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| 1849 No.184. - Et dire que Proudhon ne veut pas que nous allions aux banquets socialistes... lithoghraph 35.7 x 27.3 cm Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris |
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| 1849 No.192. Le terrible Girardo-Girardini transperçant de sa plume l'infortuné Thiers. lithograph 27.4 x 36 cm ( image ) Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris |
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| 1849 Toujours l'influence du Congrès de la Paix. lithograph on newsprint 25.4 x 20.6 cm ( image ) Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Pasadena, CA |
1849 Les Femmes Socialistes (Socialist Women):
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| 1849 No.1. L'insurrection contre les maris est proclamée le plus saint des devoirs!... hand-coloured lithograph and gum arabic 25.5 x 20.6 cm ( image ) National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia |
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| 1849 No.3. Il parait que les clubs vont être... fermés... lithograph on newsprint 23.1 x 19 cm ( image ) Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Pasadena, CA |
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| 1849 No.4. Ah! Il prétend m'empêcher d'aller communier avec... lithograph 36 x 25 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1849 No.6. ...qu'est la femme aujourd'hui dans société... hand-coloured lithograph and gum arabic 24.2 x 19.6 cm ( image ) National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia |
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| 1849 No.7. Ah! vous êtes mon mari, ah! vous êtes le maître, eh! bien moi, j'ai le droit de vous flanquer à la porte de chez vous… lithograph on newsprint 36 x 25 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1849 No.9. Repoussée...une porte me reste ouverte... lithograph on newsprint 24.7 x 20.6 cm Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Pasadena, CA |
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| 1849 No.10. Ma Femme reste bien long-temps à ce banquet... hand-coloured lithograph and gum arabic 24.4 x 20.6 cm ( image ) National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia |
1849-50 Les Représentans Représentés (Represented Representatives):
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| 1849 Achille Barguay-d'Hilliers. colour lithograph 35 x 27 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1849 No.4. Charles Dupin colour lithograph 36 x 26 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1849 No.5. 1849 No.5. Alex. Ch. Henri de Tocqueville. hand-coloured lithograph 35 x 27 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1849 No.6. Grandin. lithograph on newsprint 26.1 x 18.9 cm ( image ) Museum of Fine Arts, Orleans, France |
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| 1849 No.7. Comte de Montalembert. hand-coloured lithograph 29 x 23 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public LIbrary, MA |
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| 1849 No.15. C.H. Odilon Barrot. colour lithograph 36 x 27 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public LIbrary, MA |
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| 1849 No.16. Vesin. lithograph on newsprint 25.4 x 19.6 cm ( image ) Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Pasadena, CA |
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| 1849 No.17. De St. Priest. colour lithograph 35 x 27 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1849 No.18. Deville. colour lithograph 35 x 26 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1849 No.21. Dupin. colour lithograph 36 x 28 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1849 No.22 Ferdinand Favre. lithograph on Velin paper 25.8 x 20.2 cm ( image ) Museum of Fine Arts, Orleans, France |
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| 1849 No.24 H.G. Boulay ( de la Meurthe ) colour lithograph 36 x 28 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1849 No.30. Jean-Jacques Berger. colour lithograph 35 x 26 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1849 No.34. David d'Angers. lithograph on newsprint 25 x 19 cm ( image ) Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Pasadena, CA |
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| 1849 No.37. Greppo. colour lithograph 35 x 27 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1849 No.38. Vaulabelle. lithograph 36 x 27 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1849 No.39. Ducoux. colour lithograph 35 x 27 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1849 No.40. Buffet. lithograph on newsprint 25.6 x 18.4 cm ( image ) Museum of Fine Arts, Orleans, France |
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| 1849 No.41. Denjoy. colour lithograph 36 x 26 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1849 No.44. Buvignier. lithograph on newsprint 25 x 18.1 cm ( image ) Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Pasadena, CA |
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| 1849 No.46. Ed. Drouyn de l'Huys. colour lithograph 36 x 27 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1849 No.50 Berger. lithograph on newsprint 26.8 x 20.5 cm ( image ) Museum of Fine Arts, Orleans, France |
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| 1850? No.15. Laboulie. colour lithograph 35 x 27 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1850? No.17. Garnier-Pagès. colour lithograph 36 x 28 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
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| 1850? No.36. Jérome-Napoléon Bonaparte. colour lithograph 34 x 22 cm ( sheet ) Boston Public Library, MA |
1849 Souvenirs du Congrès de la Paix (Souvenirs of the Peace Congress):
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| 1849 No.1. Victor Hugo dans un discours en trois points... lithograph on newsprint 20.6 x 25.4 cm ( image ) Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris |
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| 1849 No.2. Deuxième séance. Un orateur américain prouve d'une manière irréfutable... lithograph 27.4 x 35.7 cm Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris |
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| 1849 No.5. Disciples de Mr. Cobden, dans l'exercice de leurs pacifiques fonctions. lithograph 27.5 x 35.8 cm Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris |
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| 1849 No.6. La Paix universelle étant décrétée... lithograph 27.5 x 36 cm Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris |
1850 Idylles Parlementaires (Parliamentary Idylls):
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| 1850 Flore et Zéphir ( de la meurthe ) lithograph 27.5 x 38 cm Numelyo Bibliothèque Numèrique de Lyon |
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| 1850 No.7. All three enjoying the shade... hand-coloured lithograph 27.7 x 36 cm Numelyo Bibliothèque Numèrique de Lyon. |
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| 1850 No.10. Voyez Berryer, célèbre horticulteur,... hand-coloured lithograph 27.5 x 35.5 cm Numelyo Bibliothèque Numèrique de Lyon |
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| 1850 No.12. Cupidon, dieu malin, mais plein de vanité… hand-coloured lithograph 27.6 x 35.7 cm Numelyo Bibliothèque Numèrique de Lyon |
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| 1850 Orateurs aux longs bras… lithograph 27.9 x 37.6 cm Numelyo Bibliothèque Numèrique de Lyon |
1849-50 Various:
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| 1849-50 Saint Sebastian charcoal on wove paper 32.2 x 18.7 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| 1849-50 Women Pursued by Satyrs oil on canvas 129.3 x 97 cm Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, Canada |
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| 1849-50c Martyrdom of St. Sebastian oil on canvas 21 x 15.8 cm Musée Municipal, Soissons, France |
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| 1849-50c Martyrdom of St. Sebastian oil on panel 32 x 22 cm Musée d'Orsay, Paris |
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| 1849-50c The Fugitives oil on panel 16.2 x 28.7 cm Musée du Petit Palais, Paris |
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| 1849-53c On the Shore oil on panel Musée d'Art moderne, Troyes, France |
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| 1849c Head of a Man 13.8 x 24 cm Museum of Fine Arts of the City of Paris, Petit Palais |
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| before1850 Fugitives oil on panel 16 x 31 cm |
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| 1850 Ecce Homo oil on canvas 162.3 x 130 cm Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany |