Satire and Society: Honoré Daumier and French Lithography

Friday February 8, 2008 - Thursday March 6, 2008
Satire and Society: Honoré Daumier and French Lithography

Honoré Daumier (French, 1808-1879), An Understandable Error, 1857, lithograph. Gift of Juwil C. and Virgil W. Topazio, 1984.29.50.3 (photo: R. J. Phil)

During a career spanning six decades, from the 1820s to the 1870s, Honoré Daumier caricatured all levels of French society. As part of a Wesleyan University seminar, students explored Daumier's work and context to prepare this exhibition. The themes included political caricatures of the Citizen-King, Louis-Philippe; representations of women; artists and the French Salon; and the new bourgeois leisure activities. Students also traced the development of the new technique of lithography by Daumier's contemporaries, including Théodore Gericault, Eugène Isabey and Eugène Delacroix.

RELATED EVENTS:

Opening reception
Thursday 7 February, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Gallery talk by student curators at 5:30 p.m.

Demonstration of lithographic printing by David Schorr, Professor of Art
CFA Printshop
Tuesday 12 February, 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Reception followed at the Davison Art Center, 8:00-9:00 p.m.