1868
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
Invention charivarique is a 1868 ink by Honoré Daumier, a Impressionism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This drawing shows a strange, exaggerated man with a giant clock for a head. He’s holding a long stick and leaning on a table, while a giant bag of money sits nearby. The clock face on his head has Roman numerals, and his body looks twisted and heavy. The title calls it a silly invention—a cannon that counts how much war costs. The artist used sharp lines and dark shading to make the scene look both funny and serious. Next, check out lithography to see how artists like Daumier made prints like this.
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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