1842
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Pygmalion is a 1842 ink by Honoré Daumier, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a man hunched over a table, carving a figure that looks almost alive. Beside him, a woman watches with her hands clasped, her face full of surprise. Around them, rough drawings of heads and hands float in the air like half-finished thoughts. The artist left tiny sketches of faces and hands scattered across the page—like a workshop full of ideas. This isn’t just one scene; it’s a snapshot of how art gets made, messy and alive. Next, check out how this was made using lithography.
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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