“- It's nippy, Mr. Galimard, it's nippy!... - Allow me to say that at 8 degrees the rivers and the noses are frozen...,” plate 39 from Tout Ce Qu'on Voudra
Medium
Lithograph in black on white wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 24.3 × 21.6 cm (9 5/8 × 8 9/16 in.); Sheet: 35 × 26 cm (13 13/16 × 10 1/4 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
76419
Art Historical Context
In 1848, amid the revolutionary fervor of France's Second Republic, Honoré Daumier captured the everyday absurdities of Parisian life in his satirical lithograph series *Tout Ce Qu'on Vra*. Plate 39, titled *“- It's nippy, Mr. Galimard, nippy!... - Allow to say that at degrees the rivers and the are frozen...”*, humorously depicts two figures bantering about the biting cold. Daumier's sharp wit skewers the pretentious chatter of the bourgeoisie, turning a simple complaint about winter weather—8 degrees Celsius, frigid enough to freeze noses—into a caricature of pompous dialogue. As a master ...
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...