At the time of his work
Honoré Daumier had been well known for
satirical lithography he submitted his work often to the
liberal French Republican Journal,
Caricature In these pieces, he made derisive fun of the
foibles and the misbehavior of
lawyers,
politicians and
middle class gentry. In touch with the acute social and politacal unrest in
Paris at that time he depicted events that were the result of the rapid development of an
urban industrial society. As might be expected, the sting of his critical wit often put him in conflict with the government. In his unfinished
The Third-Class Carriage
This image may be viewed at this URL:
http://192.41.13.240/artchive/d/daumier/third_class.jpg
Daumier's
quick penmanship style shows the viewer his interest in the
political community. At that time it was an
in your face realism, a way to cover events in an unidealized vehicle. The
rude railway compartment of the
1860s. The people are
poor and can only afford
third-class tickets, he would repeat this subject many times in his many works.
He shows them to us in the unposed attitudes and unplanned arrangements of the millions thronging the modern city--anonymous
, insignificant, dumbly patient with a lot they cannot change. Daumier saw people as they ordinarily appeared, their faces vague, impersonal blank--unprepared for any observer.
Art Through the Ages
As discofever tells us King Louis Phillippe was Daumier's first great theme, he aslo had a biting way to get across the inherent need for the social reform of the French hierarchy depicted in the tragic portrayal of current events in Rue Transnonain,1834.
Crafting from the ordinary continuum of life he randomly gathered isolated views ..... unrehearsed details of human existence. His unique efforts would go on to achieve a reality antecedent to the candor and spontaneous settings being captured by the snapshot camera at the end of the century.
Sources
Lometa. "Artists and Art in the Classroom" Tucson, Arizona.
1994. (Lecture presented at St Joseph's Catholic School.)
Justus, Kevin. "Art and Culture II." Tucson , Arizona.
1992. (Lecture presented at Pima Community College.)
De La Croix, Horst, Richard D. Tansey, and Diane Kirkpatrick.
Art Through the Ages. University of Michigan: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
1991.