Artwork
Saisissement
Saisissement is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Honoré Daumier. It dates from 1840 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Honoré Daumée’s lithograph *Saisissement* captures a fleeting instant of physical exertion. A laborer is shown straddling a timber‑laden cart, his body twisted between two massive wooden wheels that dominate the composition. The image freezes the moment of strain, emphasizing the weight of the load and the kinetic energy of the scene.
Subject & Meaning
The print foregrounds the everyday toil of urban workers, presenting the figure as both a participant in and a victim of industrial labor. By isolating the worker’s contorted posture, Daumée underscores themes of human endurance and the relentless push of commerce, inviting contemplation of the broader social conditions that shape such exertion.
Technique & Style
Created through lithography, the image was drawn on a flat stone surface with greasy ink, allowing for stark chiaroscuro effects. Daumée exploits the medium’s capacity for bold, contrasting tones, rendering deep shadows that accentuate muscular tension while the white of the paper defines the cart’s massive wheels and the surrounding space.
History & Provenance
*Saisissement* belongs to Daumée’s series of socially charged prints produced in the mid‑19th century, a period when he frequently documented the lives of the working class. The lithograph was issued in limited runs typical of the era and has since entered public collections that specialize in French realist graphic art.
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.
