Artwork
The Invalid
The Invalid is a print by the Romanticist artist Honoré Daumier. It dates from 1835 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
This lithograph shows a man lying in bed, looking thin and pale. A doctor leans over him, checking his pulse. A worried woman stands nearby.
Daumier made this during France’s 1832 cholera outbreak. He often mocked authority but here shows real care. The sick man’s weak grip on the blanket feels real.
Next, look up Honoré Daumier at The Cleveland Museum of Art.
Overview
The Invalid is a lithograph by Honoré Daumier, published in Revue des Peintres.
Subject & Meaning
The print depicts a sick man in bed, attended by a doctor taking his pulse and a concerned woman. The scene conveys a sense of genuine care and concern, diverging from Daumier's typical satirical tone.
Context
Created during the 1832 cholera outbreak in France, the work reflects the anxieties and hardships of the time, capturing a moment of vulnerability with empathy.
Technique & Style
The lithograph is characterized by its expressive rendering of the figures, with the sick man's fragile state conveyed through his thin appearance and weak grasp on the blanket.
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.
