Artwork
Les agréments d'une flanerie ...
Les agréments d'une flanerie ... is an ink print by the Impressionist artist Honoré Daumier. It dates from 1865 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Created in 1865, this lithograph by Honoré Daïmer, titled *Les agréments d’une flanerie*, captures a bustling Parisian thoroughfare.
About this work
Overview
The composition is crowded with hurried pedestrians, rattling carriages, and slanting façades, conveying the frenetic pace of mid‑nineteenth‑century urban life.
Created in 1865, this lithograph by Honoré Daïmer, titled *Les agréments d’une flanerie*, captures a bustling Parisian thoroughfare. The composition is crowded with hurried pedestrians, rattling carriages, and slanting façades, conveying the frenetic pace of mid‑nineteenth‑century urban life. The scene is rendered with exaggerated gestures and stretched features, emphasizing movement over precise detail.
Subject & Meaning
The print presents a snapshot of everyday street activity, yet Daïmer’s treatment turns it into a subtle critique. By amplifying facial expressions and contorting bodies, the artist highlights the performative aspects of public behavior—people rushing, pretending importance, and neglecting one another—reflecting his broader satirical commentary on contemporary society.
Technique & Style
Executed in lithography, Daïmer drew directly onto a limestone plate with greasy ink, then transferred the image to paper through a press. The medium allows swift, bold lines and a slightly rough texture, which suits the work’s sense of immediacy. The stylized, almost caricatural rendering of figures and architecture aligns with Daïmer’s characteristic blend of realism and exaggeration.
History & Provenance
Part of Daïmer’s extensive series of urban sketches and prints, this piece was produced during a prolific period when he documented Parisian life for newspapers and albums. While the original stone plate no longer survives, the work has circulated in several 19th‑century print collections and entered museum holdings through 20th‑century acquisitions of Daïmer’s graphic oeuvre.
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.
