1871
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Après la pompe a sang, la pompe à or is a 1871 by Honoré Daumier, a Impressionism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a heavy-set man in old-fashioned clothes, pumping a handle like a well. A bucket hangs below, but it’s not water—it’s a boot, chained to the ground. The man’s face is tired, and the whole scene looks like a dark joke. The boot on the ground is labeled "France," and the text at the top reads "Actualités," meaning "News." This was likely a political cartoon making a sharp point about money and power. Next, look up Daumier, Honoré to see more of his biting social cartoons.
Honoré-Victorin Daumier was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the Revolution of 1830 to the fall of the Second French Empire in 1870.
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