Triste contenance de la sculpture ...
1857
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1857
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
This lithograph shows a figure with its head back, mouth open, arms up in fists. The figure is carved from stone, yet it looks like it’s screaming. Daumier made prints like this to poke at art’s rules. The artist used sharp lines to make the figure feel heavy and stuck. He worked in Paris where artists often mocked each other’s styles. This piece hints at how sculpture was seen as serious—while prints were quick, cheap jokes. Look for lithography if you want to see how artists turned gritty marks into art.
