Artwork
Les crétins! ... On leur peint un tableau ...
Les crétins! ... On leur peint un tableau ... 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.
About this work
Overview
Honoré Daumier’s 1865 lithograph presents a scene inside an exhibition hall where several onlookers gather before a sizable canvas depicting mythological or religious figures. The print captures a moment of public engagement with art, emphasizing the varied reactions of the audience as they confront the depicted subject matter.
Subject & Meaning
The central focus of the work is the group of viewers, whose differing facial expressions suggest a range of interpretations and emotional responses to the painting they observe. By foregrounding the spectators rather than the artwork itself, Daumier comments on the social dynamics of art consumption in the mid‑nineteenth century.
Technique & Style
Executed as a lithograph, the image relies on the tonal possibilities of the stone‑based printing process, allowing Daumier to render fine details in the figures’ faces and the surrounding interior. The print’s crisp lines and subtle shading convey depth within the gallery space while maintaining the immediacy characteristic of Daumier’s satirical oeuvre.
History & Provenance
Created in 1865, the lithograph reflects Daumier’s ongoing interest in contemporary urban life and public institutions. It was produced during a prolific period when the artist regularly contributed to newspapers and printed series, using the medium to disseminate observations of Parisian society.
Context
The work emerges from a time when public exhibitions were becoming popular venues for cultural exchange in France. Daumier’s choice to depict an audience confronting a mythological scene underscores the tension between traditional academic subjects and the evolving tastes of a broader, increasingly literate public.
Legacy
Daumier’s lithograph continues to be cited as an early example of meta‑commentary on art viewing, anticipating later explorations of the spectator’s role in modern and contemporary art discourse.
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.
Un comité écoutant la lecture d'une tragédie
Mossieu, j'quittons vot' service ...
Ah! Vous l'êtes ... que voulez-vous que ...
Oh! Monsieur, quel talent possède ...
Monsieur sera très bien ici...
Mossieu ... je suis ce mari aux dépens duquel
Mon dieu! M'ame Bombec qué que vous avez attrapé?
La figure de ce monsieur ne me revient guère ...