1870
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
L'idéal de certains journaux is a 1870 ink by Honoré Daumier, a Impressionism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This lithograph shows a soldier and a draped woman linked arm-in-arm. The woman’s head wears a skull like a hat, and a newspaper lies at their feet. Daumier’s sharp lines turn their partnership into a joke about power and press. He made this in 1870 to mock how papers twist facts. Newspapers often pushed flashy lies back then. The skull isn’t just decoration—it’s his way of saying “look closer.” See how the ink blurs on the paper? That’s a sign of lithography, a fast print method. Try Daumier, Honoré next.
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.
See the richer artist page
