Artwork
Le Départ pour le bal
Le Départ pour le bal is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Honoré Daumier. It dates from 1847 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Le Départ pour le bal is a 1847 lithograph by Honoré Daumier, a French artist known for satirical prints that critiqued social and political issues.
Subject & Meaning
The print depicts a mythological or allegorical figure, likely Cupid or Eros, in a dynamic pose, wearing a laurel wreath and carrying a spear and quiver. The image's energy and tension may be a commentary on class or social customs of the time.
Technique & Style
Daumier's use of lithography allowed for mass production of his satirical works, which often appeared in newspapers like La Caricature and Le Charivari. The dark background and dramatic lighting in Le Départ pour le bal are characteristic of the Romanticism movement.
History & Provenance
Created in 1847, Le Départ pour le bal reflects Daumier's ongoing engagement with French social and political life during a period of upheaval.
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.
Ingrate patrie, tu n'auras pas mon oeuvre!...
Le coton tombe, l'homme reste...
Oedipe chez le Sphinx
Apollo as a Warrior
The Woman Behind the Mask
Le docteur Véron refusant ... consolation
Le Sommeil d'Endymion-Berryer
Le Constitutionnel et le Juif errant
Henri Monnier (Rôle de Joseph Prudhomme)
Mephistopheles in the Air
Baissez le rideau, la farce est jouée (Lower the Curtain, the Farce is Over)
Confrère, méfiez-vous du petit baron...