1843
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
Un Homme sauvé malgré lui is a 1843 ink by Honoré Daumier, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows five people in a crowded, dim room. Two men in work clothes stand near a woman in a patterned dress, who’s holding a small dog. A seated man in a hat writes at a desk while another man in a military-style uniform leans over him. The scene looks like a quick, funny moment—maybe a joke about saving someone from drowning. The title *Un Homme sauvé malgré lui* means "A Man Saved Despite Himself," hinting at a sarcastic story. The artist used rough lines to make the scene feel fast and lively, like a newspaper cartoon. Next, check out lithography to see how this sketch was made.
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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