CalendarPast Exhibitions
[Prints and Drawings Exhibition]
Honoré Daumier: the political lithographs from La Caricature
[Prints and Drawings Exhibition]
Honoré Daumier: the political lithographs from La Caricature
Honoré Daumier
《Masks of 1831》
1832
The National Museum of Western Art
Honoré Daumier
《Lower the curtain, the farce is over.》
1834
The National Museum of Western Art
- Dates
- 26 February June - 5 September 2010
- Venue
- National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Prints and Drawings Gallery
- Organizers
- The National Museum of Western Art
High school students or younger , those over the age of 65 , those under the age of 18, those with physical or mental disabilities and one accompanying person. Free admittance with admission ticket holders to the special exhibition “Masterpieces from the Museum of Capodimonte in Naples” or Permanent Collections.
Honoré Daumier (1808-1879) was a major French satirical print artist who produced approximately 4,000 lithographs and 1,000 woodcuts in the course of his career. This exhibition introduces roughly 40 prints selected from the NMWA’s holdings of 1,700 Daumier works. The focus of this selection is on early period political satire prints Daumier created for the La Caricature journal. La Caricature, a major republican newspaper owned by Charles Philipon, wa published during the so-called July Monarchy (1830-1848). Each issue of the newspaper included satirical prints whose persistent and telling likenesses transformed the French king Louis-Philippe and the politicians of the day into laughable figures. Increased government scrutiny of the newspaper and its politically volatile activities led to subsequent fines and jail terms. Because of these problems and other difficulties, the journal lasted a mere five years before publication was halted. But for the newly active Daumier, it was a splendid stage for the establishment of his position as a major satirical print artist. We hope that visitors will enjoy this introduction to the satire of the young, passionately enthusiastic Daumier, which is at times biting, at times humorous.
