“I'm guarding city hall"
Medium
Lithograph in black, with hand-coloring on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
26.7 × 21 cm (10 9/16 × 8 5/16 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
155252
Art Historical Context
**“I’m Guarding City Hall by Honoré-Vict Daumier (1822)** This lithograph, created when Daumier was just14 years old, captures young artist's budding talent for satire. Printed in black ink with delicate hand-coloring on ivoryove paper, the 26.7 × 21 cm work depicts a humorous scene likely poking fun at officialdom or an oversized sense of duty—perhaps a child or bumbling figure claiming to "guard" city hall. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings Department, it exemplifies early 19th-century lithography, a revolutionary technique invented in 1798 that allowed artists li...
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...