Honoré Daumier (1808-1879)
For those of you who, when the newest edition of your daily fishwrap thwaps against the front porch in the morning, excitedly run out and crack it open straight to the political cartoons - this is the guy you wanna thank. Daumier is one of the first political cartoonists, and he's probably the Greatest of All Time, too (Ali notwithstanding, of course).
But this is not to say that Daumier's influence extends only to the Opinion page. He raised the caricature up to high art, giving the cartoon the respect it deserved. Daumier had a near perfect sense for the economy of line - five strokes with his pen and you not only had a recognizable face, but it had soul, too. He was also a painter of some renown, although I always felt his sense of color was only serviceable. Still, his gestural style translated well to the canvas, as shown his painting 'Two Sculptors', with one man's face being nearly abstract yet utterly familiar. And his subject matter places him right at the forefront of the Realist movement, with Gustave Courbet.
Daumier got his start working for the paper La Caricature, where he quickly became lead artist and Public Enemy No. 1. His print 'Gargantua', comparing King Louis Phillippe to the gluttonous title character in Rabelais's story, got him a six month stint in the pokey. He was only 23 at the time. His distaste for the two upper classes of French society only grew after this, and he skewered them at each and every opportunity, while making heroes of the lower classes. In fact, I can't find any other artist who treated the poor with such respect. His painting 'The Third-Class Carraige' is the best known work of this style - a glowing woman breastfeeding in a car, on old person, back from shopping, patient. Compare this to any of his caricatures of merchants or judges, with their deformed faces and bodies, beaklike noses and hard eyes.
Other mediums that he worked in - Daumier sculpted for a bit, focusing on his most hated public figures of the day. We may not recognize any of the names now, but the facial expressions are still priceless. More importantly, Daumier was an early adopter of the new medium of lithography, and the first that gave it mass exposure through La Caricature and other papers.
Daumier was only really respected by his peers during his lifetime - most of his works were found in the private collections of other artists, most notably Corot, Délacroix, and Degas. In fact, Corot kept Daumier in the black during the last part of his life - Daumier was nearly blind and infirm.
The government gave Daumier a fitting sendoff at his funeral - at least one well-known government informer was present to keep an eye on the proceedings, and to keep sentiment against it from being stirred up. Daumier wielded great power even in death.
This is the third time I've written this node - IE kept crashing on me.