1852
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Un victime de la politesse is a 1852 ink by Honoré Daumier, a Impressionism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This painting shows a man yawning during a social gathering. He's surrounded by other people, but he looks bored. The scene is funny because it highlights the tension between being polite and being honest about how you feel. The man's yawn is a subtle way to critique social etiquette. It's a comment on how people often feel trapped by societal expectations. This kind of commentary was common in Daumier's work. You can learn more about this style by looking into the technique: 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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