Le séduira-t-il? Les Paris sont ouverts
1856
Medium
lithograph
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection
Accession Number
2015.143.1468
Art Historical Context
**Le séduira-t-il? Paris sont ouverts (Will He Seduce Her? Bets Open)** *Honoré Daumier, 1856, Lithograph Honoré Daumier, a master of 19th-century French caricature, captures the cheeky social theater of Parisian life in this 1856 lithograph Printed during the Second Empire under Napoleon III, when censorship loomed but satire thrived in publications like *Le Charivari*,umier's work poked fun at bourgeois pretensions and human folly. The title's playful wager—"Will he seduce her? Bets are open!"—hints at a flirtatious encounter, with onlookers turning romance into a spectacle, reflecting ...
About the Artist
Honoré Daumier · 1810–1879
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...