Honoré Victorin Daumier
French, 1808 - 1879Congrès des medécins (Congress of Physicians), n.d.
Not on view
Lithograph on paper
Dimensions12 1/4 × 12 1/8 in. (31.1 × 30.8 cm)
Image: 10 9/16 × 9 in. (26.8 × 22.9 cm)
Gift of Mrs. R. Spencer Bishop, 1963.18
Honoré Victorin Daumier was born in Marseilles, France, but later his family moved to Paris when he was a child. His first job was as an apprentice to a Parisian lithography house.
Daumier had an intense and humorous interest in the social issues of Paris. He first drew political cartoons in 1824. Just before his 24th birthday, Daumier published his first lithographs for La Caricature, a weekly publication for social satire. He was twice arrested and charged with producing politically subversive images and eventually imprisoned at Sainte-Pelagie along with the publisher and printer of La Caricature.
He concentrated on creating humorous lithographs to make a living until 1863 when his eyesight began to fail. This prolific artist produced approximately 2,000 lithographs during his career, some being published in editions of up to 3,500.
