Monsieur le sténographe ...

About this work

A man in a top hat hands a paper to a seated figure, while another man leans down toward a smaller person at a desk. Crowded figures fill the room, drawn with bold, rough lines and exaggerated faces. Their gestures feel tense, almost comical, like a scene from a loud political meeting. This print is not a real event, but a satire of French government workers. Daumier made hundreds of these drawings poking fun at lawyers, politicians, and clerks. He worked for a newspaper, using art to comment on corruption and power. The image was made using lithography, a process where an artist draws on stone with a greasy crayon, then ink is rolled on the stone to make prints. technique: lithography