1854
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
La bourse ou le knout! is a 1854 ink by Honoré Daumier, a Impressionism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
Three men stand on a Paris street. One clutches coins. Another holds a whip. The third flinches like he’s just been hit. Daumier used lithography to make bold, sharp prints. This one mocks greedy power and scared people. The thick lines and big faces feel like a cartoon but pack a punch. The guy with the whip looks like a bully. He’s all posture, no mercy. Look up 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.
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