Artwork
Eh! Bien, voisin ... pourquoi avez-vous poussé ...
Eh! Bien, voisin ... pourquoi avez-vous poussé ... is an ink print by the Impressionist artist Honoré Daumier. It dates from 1857 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Honoré Daumée r’s 1857 lithograph, titled *Eh!
About this work
Overview
Bien, voisin … pourquoi avez‑vous poussé …*, presents a brief encounter between two men standing at adjacent windows.
Honoré Daumée r’s 1857 lithograph, titled *Eh! Bien, voisin … pourquoi avez‑vous poussé …*, presents a brief encounter between two men standing at adjacent windows. The composition is confined to a narrow street scene, where the figures’ modest clothing and the surrounding architecture are rendered with clear, unembellished lines, offering a snapshot of ordinary urban life in mid‑nineteenth‑century Paris.
Subject & Meaning
The print captures a moment of casual conversation, the men’s relaxed postures and muted gestures suggesting a familiar, perhaps neighborly exchange. By focusing on this everyday interaction, Daumier underscores the rhythms of city living, where brief, polite dialogues punctuate the flow of daily routines.
Technique & Style
Executed as a lithograph, the work relies on the medium’s capacity for fine tonal variation and crisp outlines. Daumier’s handling of line emphasizes the texture of the façade and the simplicity of the figures’ dress, while the contrast between light and shadow delineates depth without resorting to elaborate detail.
Context
Created during a period when Daumier frequently documented Parisian street scenes, the print reflects his broader interest in the social fabric of the capital. The 1850s saw rapid urban expansion, and works like this serve as visual records of the modest encounters that populated the newly modernizing city.
Artist & collection
Artist
Honoré-Victorin Daumier was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the Revolution of 1830 to the fall of the Second French Empire in 1870.
Mais pis que j'vous dis qu'c'est des amis ...
Bonsoir chérie...si ton épicier nous voyait...
La personne ... demande a monter tout de suite ...
Tiens ... ma femme avec un monsieur ...
Aspect que commencent dèja a avoir ...
Soyez tranquille bourgeois, on connait
Je vous dis que ... il nous faut M. Molé ...