Sight, plate 39 from Types Parisiens
August 4, 1839
Medium
Lithograph in black on white wove paper, with letterpress verso
Dimensions
Image: 20 × 22.8 cm (7 7/8 × 9 in.); Sheet: 25.1 × 37.4 cm (9 15/16 × 14 3/4 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
21550
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
A favorite of Daumier’s, this print is a play on traditional genre scenes, comically at odds with the sense it portrays. “Sight” is represented by a nighttime stroll alongside the River Seine, with Notre Dame emerging hazily from the darkness. The clearest object is the moon, represented by a curve of unmarked paper, in stark contrast with the heavily shaded image. The moon’s prominence only deepens the print’s irony: a crescent moon is traditionally a symbol that a husband has been cuckolded by...
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...