Artwork
Statues of the future
Statues of the future is a print by the Impressionist artist Honoré Daumier. It dates from 1868 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
A man in a top hat stands beside three small statues, all of them cracked or broken.
A man in a top hat stands beside three small statues, all of them cracked or broken. The scene looks like a sidewalk display in a busy French city.
This was a drawing made for a newspaper in 1868. It pokes fun at how quickly new ideas in art and politics become outdated. The statues are labeled “Future,” but they’re already falling apart.
The work is a quiet joke about change and disappointment. It feels familiar, even today. You can see it at The Cleveland Museum of Art.
Overview
Published as plate 98 in the April 29, 1868 issue of the satirical newspaper Le Charivari, this print depicts a gentleman in a top hat standing beside three diminutive statues that appear cracked and fragmented. The scene is rendered as a street‑level display, suggesting a bustling French urban setting. The work is part of the newspaper’s “News of the Day” series and is now held by the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Subject & Meaning
The three statues are captioned “Future,” yet they are already in disrepair, creating a visual irony that comments on the fleeting nature of contemporary ideas in art and politics. By juxtaposing a respectable figure with broken symbols of progress, the image satirizes the rapid obsolescence of what is once hailed as innovative, a theme that remains resonant.
Technique & Style
Executed as a line‑based print, the composition relies on stark contrasts and fine hatching to convey texture and the sense of cracked stone. The limited palette typical of mid‑nineteenth‑century newspaper illustration emphasizes clarity over detail, allowing the satirical narrative to be read quickly by a broad readership.
History & Provenance
Created for Le Charivari’s 1868 edition, the print circulated widely among the paper’s readership before entering private collections. It was later acquired by the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is catalogued as part of the museum’s holdings of 19th‑century graphic satire.
Context
Le Charivari was a leading French satirical weekly that frequently used caricature and visual humor to critique societal trends. In the late 1860s, France experienced rapid artistic and political change, providing fertile ground for the kind of commentary embodied in this print, which reflects contemporary anxieties about progress and its durability.
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.
