1832
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
The Nightmare is a 1832 by Honoré Daumier, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A woman lies flat on her back, eyes shut, while a tiny demon crouches on her chest. The room is dark except for a sliver of light on her face and nightgown. This isn’t a dream—it’s a political jab. Daumier drew it for a satirical magazine during a time when France was ruled by a king many disliked. The demon stands for the heavy, unfair control people felt. The woman’s helpless pose makes it clear: the joke’s on the powerful. If you like this kind of sharp, funny art, look up *Honoré Daumier (French, 1808–1879)*.
This print was published in the journal La Caricature (No. 69) as plate 139.
The man in the image is General Lafayette; the pear on top of him represents King Louis-Philippe, showing their uncomfortable relationship.
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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