Honoré Daumier

Born in Marseilles, Daumier moved to Paris as a child and discovered his talent for printmaking as a lithographer’s apprentice. His association with Charles Philipon, the greatest satirical publisher of the 1830s, was to prove decisive: in journals like La Caricature and Le Charivari, Daumier and other printmakers taunted (and sometimes fell victim to) the censorship laws with images that took aim at the current regime. Le Charivari had to tone down its imagery in 1835 when the government once again banned political caricature. Even so, the lithographs Daumier produced within this journalistic context—ridiculing judges and lawmakers while depicting the real sufferings of the working class—are the basis of his fame today. Daumier’s Robert Macaire series mocked contemporary mores and the prevailing desire to “get rich.” Greatly admired as a draughtsman and illustrator in his lifetime, Daumier also made paintings and satiric portrait sculptures, which only became known after his death.