Artwork

Changeant son cheval borgne pour un aveugle

Changeant son cheval borgne pour un aveugle, by Honoré Daumier, ink, 1866
Changeant son cheval borgne pour un aveugle, by Honoré Daumier, ink, 1866

Changeant son cheval borgne pour un aveugle is an ink print by the Impressionist artist Honoré Daumier. It dates from 1866 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Overview

Created in 1866, this lithograph on newsprint titled *Changeant son cheval borgne pour un aveugle* exemplifies Honoré Daumier’s use of printmaking to comment on contemporary French life. The work presents a single figure on a horse, rendered with stark lines that convey motion and tension, and it continues the artist’s long‑standing engagement with satire as a vehicle for social critique.

Subject & Meaning

The scene shows a rider, hat and coat visible, grasping a whip while attempting to control a horse whose eyes are deliberately covered, suggesting blindness. The exaggerated expression of the rider and the animal’s impediment serve as a visual metaphor for misguided authority or leadership, a recurring theme in Daumier’s caricatures of power structures.

Technique & Style

Executed as a lithograph, the image relies on bold contour lines and varied shading to model volume and convey kinetic energy. The choice of newsprint as support underscores the work’s immediacy and its intended circulation among a broad readership, while the stark contrast typical of Daumier’s prints heightens the satirical impact.

History & Provenance

Daumier produced the print during a prolific period of contribution to satirical journals such as *La Caricature* and *Le Charivari*. Though originally distributed in these periodicals, the lithograph later entered private collections before being acquired by public institutions, reflecting its continued relevance as a document of 19th‑century French political discourse.

Context

The mid‑1860s in France were marked by shifting power dynamics under the Second Empire, with growing republican sentiment. Daumier’s republican democratic outlook informed his relentless lampooning of monarchy, aristocracy, and clergy, and this lithograph fits within that broader campaign of visual protest against established authority.

Artist & collection

Portrait of Honoré Daumier

Artist

Honoré Daumier

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.

This work is in the public domain (CC0). Image source: National Gallery of Art open access. Spotted an error in this record? Tell us.