1848
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
Les Journaux Napoléoniens sortant de l'Assemblée Nationale... is a 1848 ink by Honoré Daumier, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows three men outside a building with the word "ASSEMBLEE" on it. The man on the left wears a tall hat and holds a paper labeled "PEUPLE." The middle man, also in a hat, has a skeleton face and a coat with "CONSTITUTION" written on his back. The third man leans on a cane, looking down. The artist used humor to show how newspapers were seen as powerful—one man even has a skeleton face, making it clear they’re mocking authority. The word "PEUPLE" means "people," and "CONSTITUTION" hints at politics. Look up lithography to see how this sketch was made.
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
