Honore Daumier

Happy Birthday Honore Daumier!! The Parisian lithographer and painter, born in 1808, created political commentaries for journals. He contributed over 4000 satirical lithographs as well as paintings. Daumier was an insightful draftsman into the human condition of the period. The work often raised the ire of the government he criticized. Consider the lithograph below, Rue Transnonain, which in graphic detail depicts fallen townspeople after soldiers have raided their quarters. Daumier keenly places us, the viewers of the horrific spectacle, on eye level, as if we are on the scene.