Artwork
Troisième et dernière séance du congrès ...
Troisième et dernière séance du congrès ... is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Honoré Daumier. It dates from 1849 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
This lithograph shows a crowded room where men in suits argue and gesture wildly.
This lithograph shows a crowded room where men in suits argue and gesture wildly. Their faces twist in anger or confusion. One man in the center pounds his fist on a table.
Daumier used lithography to make quick, bold lines. It was cheap and fast—perfect for mocking politics. The style lets him exaggerate bodies and faces for laughs.
Daumier knew politics firsthand. He lived through France’s 1848 revolution.
Look up lithography next.
Overview
Honoré Daumier’s 1849 lithograph Troisième et dernière séance du congrès captures a tumultuous gathering of men in formal attire. The composition is densely packed, with figures gesturing wildly and faces twisted in anger or confusion, while a central figure pounds his fist on a table, emphasizing the disorder of the scene.
Subject & Meaning
The work portrays a chaotic session of a peace congress, using exaggerated, caricature‑like postures to highlight the absurdity and conflict inherent in political negotiations. The animated interactions suggest both the fervor and the futility of the delegates’ attempts to reach consensus.
Technique & Style
Executed in lithography, Daumier employs swift, bold lines that lend immediacy to the image. The medium’s affordability allowed rapid production, while its capacity for stark contrast enabled the artist to amplify facial features and bodily gestures for satirical effect.
Context
Created in the aftermath of the 1848 French Revolution, the print reflects Daumier’s direct experience with the era’s political upheavals. The chaotic congress scene can be read as a commentary on the instability and contentious debates that followed the revolutionary period.
History & Provenance
The lithograph was produced as part of Daumier’s series of politically charged prints, which were widely circulated in mid‑nineteenth‑century France. Its original distribution relied on inexpensive print runs, facilitating broad public access to the artist’s critique.
Artist & collection
Artist
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.
