Les Badauds
1839
Medium
lithograph
Dimensions
overall: 36 x 27.3 cm (14 3/16 x 10 3/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.3060
Art Historical Context
**Les Badauds (The Gawkers), 1839** Honoré Daumier's *Les Badauds* captures the chaotic energy of Parisian street life in this lively lithograph from 1839. Measuring 36 x 27.3 cm, the print belongs to the National Gallery of Art's Rosenwald Collection in the Prints department. Daumier, a master caricaturist of the French Romantic era, produced over 4,000 lithographs, often for satirical journals like *Le Charivari*, skewering the absurdities of bourgeois society under King Louis-Philippe. The scene depicts a mesmerized crowd of "badauds"—gawkers—staring upward in slack-jawed fascination, lik...
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...