The New Paris, How fortunate for those in a hurry that the avenues have been widened!!!, published in Souvenirs d'Artistes
April 6, 1862
Medium
Lithograph; second state of two (Delteil)
Dimensions
Image: 10 1/2 × 8 13/16 in. (26.6 × 22.4 cm) Sheet: 12 7/16 × 17 1/2 in. (31.6 × 44.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928
Accession Number
28.92.6
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1862, amid Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann sweeping transformation of Paris under Napoleon III, Honoré Daumier captured irony of urban "progress" in this biting lithograph, *The New Paris, How for those in a hurry the avenues have been widened*, published in *Souvenirs d'Artistes Daumier, a caricaturist and leading figure in French Realism, skewers the chaos of the modernization efforts. The title's exclamation drips with sarcasm, likely depicting congested streets filled with men, horses, buildings, and carriages—tags that evoke the very traffic jams the widened boulevards were meant to all...
About the Artist
Honoré Daumier|Bertauts · 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...