Artwork
Passez au large!
Passez au large! 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
This lithograph shows a big urn labeled "Suffrage Universel" guarded by a round man with a stick. He stands firm while people gather around, some angry, some hopeful.
Daumier made this in 1851 to protest France’s weak voting laws. He often mocked power in his art. This one’s a bold, simple design with sharp contrast.
Look up lithography to see how he printed it.
Overview
Honoré Daumier’s 1851 lithograph ‘Passe au large!’ presents a striking scene in which a massive urn, emblazoned with the words ‘Suffrage Universel,’ is vigilantly guarded by a stout figure wielding a staff. Around the central motif a crowd gathers, its members displaying a range of emotions from agitation to optimism, underscoring the work’s focus on the contested issue of universal suffrage.
Subject & Meaning
The composition uses the urn as a visual metaphor for the concept of universal voting rights, while the guardian figure symbolizes the protective, yet perhaps obstructive, forces surrounding the franchise. The varied reactions of the surrounding onlookers convey the social tension and aspirations tied to the struggle for broader political representation in mid‑nineteenth‑century France.
Technique & Style
Executed in lithography, Daumier employs a stark, high‑contrast palette that accentuates the bold outlines of the urn and the rotund guard. The print’s simplified forms and limited tonal range reflect Daumier’s characteristic satirical clarity, allowing the political message to emerge directly from the graphic design without ornamental distraction.
History & Provenance
Created in 1851, the image was part of Daumier’s broader campaign of visual protest against the restrictive French electoral system of the era. While the work circulated among reformist circles, its early ownership records are sparse; it later entered public collections as an example of the artist’s politically engaged printmaking.
Context
The lithograph emerged during a period of intense debate over voting eligibility in France, when property qualifications limited the electorate to a privileged minority. Daumier’s print aligns with contemporary radical pamphlets and cartoons that demanded the extension of the franchise to all male citizens, reflecting the ferment that would eventually lead to the 1848 and 1871 reforms.
Legacy
‘Passe au large!’ remains a reference point for scholars examining the intersection of art and political activism in the nineteenth century. Its clear visual rhetoric continues to illustrate how print media served as a vehicle for democratic critique, influencing later generations of socially conscious illustrators.
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.
