He delights in the ball, plate 10 from Les Banqueteurs
Medium
Lithograph in black on white wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 23.6 × 20.9 cm (9 5/16 × 8 1/4 in.); Sheet: 35.9 × 27.3 cm (14 3/16 × 10 3/4 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
7766
Art Historical Context
Honoré Daumier's *He delights in the ball*, plate 10 from the *Les Banqueteurs* (1849), captures the artist's sharp wit through a masterful lithograph in black on white wove. Measuring 23.6 × 20.9 cm for the image and housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints Drawings department, this print exemplifies Daumier's role as a leading 19th-century French caricist. Working amid the turbulent years following the 1848 Revolution Daumier used his art to skewer the bourgeoisie and political elite, often in the pages of satirical journals like *Le Charivari*. The *Les Banqueteurs* series satirizes...
About the Artist
Honoré-Victorin Daumier · 1808–1879
Honoré-Victorin Daumier (1808-1879) was a prolific French printmaker, caricaturist, painter, and sculptor whose works offered incisive commentary on the social and political life of 19th-century France. Known as the 'Michelangelo of Caricature,' Daumier produced over 4,000 lithographs, 500 paintings, 1,000 drawings, and 100 sculptures during his lifetime. His biting political satire led to his imp...