1866
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Le Barbe bleu Prussien... is a 1866 ink by Honoré Daumier, a Impressionism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a wild-haired man bursting through a door, holding a sword. Through the doorway, you see a dimly lit room with a few small figures—some sitting, some standing—looking up at him. The man’s face is twisted in anger, and the whole scene feels chaotic and dark. The title hints this is a joke about a "Bluebeard" character (a story about a man with many murdered wives). The artist used quick, sketchy lines to make it feel urgent and messy. Want to see more? Look up lithography to see how artists 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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