“What idiots! You paint a religious picture for them and they laugh.... they don't even have a devotion to art!...,” plate 4 from Croquis Pris Au Salon par Daumier

Art Historical Context

Honoré Daumier’s 1865 lithograph captures a wry moment of social commentary at the Paris Salon, the era’s premier art exhibition. The title—“What idiots! You paint a religious picture for them and they laugh.... they don’t even have a devotion to art!”—voices the exasperation of an imagined artist or critic as visitors chuckle at a solemn religious scene. Through deft caricature, Daumier highlights the gap between sincere artistic intent and the public’s sometimes superficial responses. Created as plate 4 in the series *Croquis Pris Au Salon*, the work exemplifies Daumier’s mastery of lithography, a medium that allowed sharp, reproducible images to reach wide newspaper and magazine audiences. The compact 22 × 22.2 cm composition focuses attention on expressive faces and gestures, a hallmark of his Realist approach that blended humor with pointed observation of 19th-century French cultural life. Today housed in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Prints and Drawings department, this lithograph remains a vivid reminder of how art and its viewers have long negotiated questions of taste, reverence, and entertainment.

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...