Artwork
Les Trois petits saints
Les Trois petits saints is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Honoré Daumier. It dates from 1844 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1844, *Les Trois petits saints* is a lithographic print by Honoré Daumier. The work depicts three men in top hats and long coats, each shielding his face with a hand, set against a loosely rendered crowd. The composition is rendered with rapid, sketch‑like lines that prioritize expressive gesture over fine detail.
Subject & Meaning
The three figures appear to conceal themselves, suggesting embarrassment, fear, or a desire to hide from an unseen event. Their posture and the surrounding anonymous silhouettes convey a sense of collective anxiety, a theme Daumier often employed to critique social pretensions and the pressures of public life.
Technique & Style
Executed as a lithograph, the image relies on bold, gestural strokes that give the scene a spontaneous, almost caricatural quality. Daumier’s use of quick, uneven lines creates a dynamic surface, emphasizing emotion and movement while the print’s tonal contrasts highlight the figures against the darker background.
History & Provenance
Daumier produced the print during a prolific period of political satire, contributing regularly to the French periodicals *La Caricature* and *Le Charivari*. The work reflects his republican sympathies and his habit of using accessible print media to reach a broad audience with his social commentary.
Context
The 1840s in France were marked by tension between the monarchy, the aristocracy, and emerging republican ideas. Daumier’s prints, including this one, responded to these currents by lampooning authority figures and exposing the hypocrisies of the era, often through exaggerated facial expressions and crowd scenes.
Legacy
*Les Trois petits saints* exemplifies Daumier’s skill in merging political critique with a distinctive, sketchy visual language. The lithograph continues to be studied as a representative example of mid‑19th‑century French satire and of the artist’s influence on the development of socially engaged printmaking.
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.
