Volé!... Rue vide-gousset...
1839
Medium
lithograph
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.2969
Art Historical Context
**Volé!... Rue vide-gset...** (1839) is a vivid lithograph by Honoré Daumier, the masterful French caricaturist whose sharp social commentary captured the gritty realities of 19th-century Paris. Created during the July Monarchy under King Louis-Philippe, when censorship loomed over the press, Daumier produced this print amid rising urban crime and economic disparity fueled by industrialization. The title—"Robbed!... Empty-Pocket Street..."—evokes a bustling Parisian thoroughfare notorious for pickpockets, satirizing the vulnerability of everyday citizens in a modernizing city teeming with oppo...
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...