Honoré Daumier

Honoré Daumier is considered one of the most committed chroniclers of his era. Known for his socio-critical satirical paintings, Daumier's works, equipped with a razor-sharp sense of observation, comment on the social fabric, political machinations and not infrequently the existence of bizarre figures stuck in the philistine bourgeoisie: the art lover, the reclusive dandy, the lawyer shamelessly exploiting his clients, the "petit bourgeois" strolling around all day. Baudelaire considered Daumier to be one of the best caricaturists, but also an important voice in modern painting. In fact, he was one of the first painters to turn scenes of everyday Paris, such as the toiling working class, overcrowded third-class carriages and domestic scenes, into pictorial subjects. In contrast to his lithographs, these were usually not influenced by current political events. The present composition of three figures staggered shoulder to shoulder remains enigmatic. The figures emerge from the dark-toned background, applied with rough brushstrokes. While the figure on the right is only recognisable as a silhouette, the man in the centre is clearly outlined, while the naked female figure next to it is almost overlit and reduced to a mere outline. The scene could be taking place in a studio, but just as easily on a theatre stage. Since the 1830s, Daumier had repeatedly devoted himself to painting as a sideline to his caricatures. When he was dismissed from the editorial staff of the magazine Le Charivari in 1860, he turned his attention to painting. Although he prepared his paintings in an academic manner with numerous preliminary studies, he found it difficult to finally put them aside. As a manifestation of unadulterated art, the spontaneous, emotionally evocative oil sketch suited him, as the present work impressively demonstrates.