Artwork
Le Boeuf-éléphant nouvelle variété
Le Boeuf-éléphant nouvelle variété is an ink print by the Impressionist artist Honoré Daumier. It dates from 1856 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1856, this lithograph by Honoré Daumée presents a satirical tableau in which three men, rendered with exaggerated expressions, peer through a fence at the rear of an elephant. The composition combines humor with social observation, characteristic of Daumée’s print work during the mid‑nineteenth century.
Subject & Meaning
The image depicts a crowd of onlookers fixated on a massive animal described as a "cow‑elephant," a hybrid that mocks the spectacle of exotic exhibitions. The caption jokes that this "new variety" is beyond the means of ordinary people, suggesting a critique of consumer excess and the commodification of wonder.
Technique & Style
Executed as a lithograph, the work employs the smooth stone surface typical of the medium, allowing Daumée to achieve bold line work and subtle tonal variations. The exaggerated gestures and caricatured faces reflect his signature satirical style, while the crowded composition conveys a sense of bustling public curiosity.
Context
Daumée produced the print amid a period of political turbulence in France, spanning the July Revolution of 1830 to the collapse of the Second Empire in 1870. His prints for publications such as La Caricature and Le Charivari often targeted the monarchy, aristocracy, and clergy, aligning with his republican sympathies.
Legacy
The lithograph exemplifies Daumée’s role in shaping French visual satire, illustrating how print media could disseminate political commentary to a broad audience. Its blend of humor and social critique continues to inform studies of nineteenth‑century French visual culture.
Artist & collection
Artist
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.
The ox-elephant, a new and very promising breed...
Au Jardin des Plantes
Pardonnez-moi, o mon dieu! ...
Le rêve d'un marguillier
Monsieur le concierge, allant en soirée
Toujours la heunesse-flourens
Un jour ou l'on paye cinq francs
Au Havre
La personne ... demande a monter tout de suite ...
Les Caniches et les rentiers allant féliciter l'Assemblée...
Ce char marchera toujours...
Ces pauvres animaux... n'se reconnaissent... plus...