Artwork
Le Guitariste-Amateur
Le Guitariste-Amateur is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Honoré Daumier. It dates from 1840 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Le Guitariste-Amateur is a lithograph on newsprint created by Honoré Daumier in 1840, exemplifying his work as a printmaker and satirist.
Subject & Meaning
The print depicts a man playing a guitar, his facial expression suggesting enthusiastic singing. The title 'guitarist-amateur' indicates the subject is a hobbyist, not a professional musician.
Technique & Style
The lithograph is characterized by loose, sketchy lines, conveying a sense of spontaneity. The use of newsprint as the medium adds to the informal, ephemeral quality of the work.
Context
Produced during the July Monarchy, the print reflects Daumier's engagement with contemporary French society and his republican democratic views, often expressed through his caricatures in publications like La Caricature and Le Charivari.
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.
