Restaurateur au Bois de Boulogne
1852
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1852
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Restaurateur au Bois de Boulogne is a 1852 ink by Honoré Daumier, a Impressionism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This lithograph shows a well-dressed man standing next to a seated bird seller in Paris. The seller holds a cage, his worn clothes and slumped posture contrast sharply with the man’s polished boots and upright stance. Daumier often used prints like this to mock social gaps. The print uses lithography, a method where artists draw on stone with greasy ink. It lets them make many copies fast, which helped spread political and social jokes in 1800s France. You can still see the texture of the stone in the grainy lines. Think this style feels familiar? Compare it to Daumier, Honoré.
