Artwork
La Souscription Napoléonienne
La Souscription Napoléonienne is an ink print by the Impressionist artist Honoré Daumier. It dates from 1851 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
La Souscription Napoléonienne is a lithograph created by Honoré Daumier in 1851, exemplifying his use of satire to comment on politics during the Second French Empire.
Subject & Meaning
The print depicts two men in a doorway, one holding a stick and the other a hat containing coins, while a third figure observes from behind a curtain. The scene is a commentary on the practice of soliciting donations during Napoleon's rule, with exaggerated expressions adding to the satire.
Technique & Style
Daumier employed lithography, a medium that allowed him to reach a wide audience through mass-produced prints in publications like Le Charivari. His caricatures often featured exaggerated expressions and simple, direct compositions, as seen in this work's plainly furnished setting and emphatic characterizations.
Own this work as a print
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.
Pourriez-vous me dire...? J'ai la grippe!...
Sans doute M. Riflot le droit...
Il me semble que j'aperçois... un... chien... pas muselé!...
Oh! quant a la vue, vous ne trouverez pas mieux qu'ici!
Un Déménagement furtif
Manière polie de mettre ... a la porte ...
Eh! bien monsieur et mes trois termes...
Le marchand de contremarques
Avons saisi dito... un pot a eau, sans eau
Le Protecteur
Tiens... je ne te reconnaissais pas...
Un Défenseur... causant... dans son cabinet habituel