1863
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Art Lovers is a 1863 by Honoré Daumier, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
Two men in dark coats lean over a small painting, noses almost touching the frame. One holds a magnifying glass; the other squints like he’s counting brushstrokes. Daumier drew these guys a lot—rich collectors who acted like they knew art but mostly showed off. Here, they look serious, but in other sketches he made them look silly, greedy, or lost in their own opinions. If you like this dry humor, check out more works in the subject: france, 19th century.
Honoré Daumier was known for his witty depictions of contemporary Parisian types, including the art collectors seen in this drawing. The sheet belongs to a series in which the artist depicted these connoisseurs in the process of closely studying works of art. Although here, the men's focus seems sincere, in many works Daumier caricatured his subjects' greediness, smugness, or obliviousness.
Honoré Daumier produced watercolors primarily for collectors of his work, suggesting that this image, somewhat ironically, was intended to be sold to the very figures it depicts.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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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