Who painted L'inconvénient de se faire bichonner ...?

L'inconvénient de se faire bichonner ... was painted by Honoré Daumier in 1844.

Where can I see L'inconvénient de se faire bichonner ...?

L'inconvénient de se faire bichonner ... is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is L'inconvénient de se faire bichonner ...?

L'inconvénient de se faire bichonner ... is associated with Romanticism.

Artwork

L'inconvénient de se faire bichonner ...

Honoré Daumier , 1844

L'inconvénient de se faire bichonner ... is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Honoré Daumier. It dates from 1844 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Overview

Honoré Daumier’s 1844 lithograph L’inconvénient de se faire bichonner captures a compact interior where two men sit opposite each other. One clutches a pair of tongs, the other lifts his arms in a gestural motion. The composition is rendered against a dense field of dark hatching that isolates the figures and heightens the immediacy of the encounter.

Subject & Meaning

The work presents an everyday confrontation, suggesting a power imbalance through the weapon‑like tongs and the upward, possibly pleading, gesture. Daumier hints at broader social dynamics, using the ordinary men to comment on hierarchical relations and the tensions inherent in human interaction.

Technique & Style

Executed as a lithograph, the image relies on bold, rapid lines and thick black washes that give the scene a sketch‑like vigor. Daumier’s characteristic roughness and exaggerated facial expressions convey emotion without elaborate detail, while the stark background amplifies the figures’ presence.

History & Provenance

Created in the mid‑1840s, the print belongs to Daumier’s early series of socially charged studies. It circulated among his contemporaries as a commentary on daily life, later entering museum collections that focus on 19th‑century French printmaking.

Artist & collection

Artist

Honoré Daumier

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.