1845
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Les Voisines devant le Juge de paix is a 1845 ink by Honoré Daumier, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a judge sitting at a desk, glaring down at two women who slump in front of him. The judge wears a tall hat and a stiff coat, while the women’s fancy dresses look rumpled. One woman holds a hat in her lap, and the other leans forward, looking tired or guilty. The title hints this is about neighbors arguing in court—maybe over noise or money. The artist used quick, sketchy lines to show the scene fast, like a newspaper drawing. Next, check out lithography to see how artists made prints like this cheaply.
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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