A well-known lithographer named Honoré Daumier popularized the ideas of social realism in the 19th century through his works of art. He is credited with being the creator of the realist style of caricature, which focused on the actual experiences of people from all socioeconomic classes while sharply scrutinizing and criticizing the upper strata of society and the ruling class. He lived in France at a period when the country's political and social climate was quite unstable, with political upheaval, oppression, civil unrest, war, and siege all occurring there. The majority of Daumier's works of art dealt with the oppressive nature of politics, challenging societal issues, and negative economic effects of these instability and turmoil. He infused emotion into the simplest and most unimagined situations of life; bringing realism ideology in greater perspective.
Daumier was born in Marseille, South France, but he spent most of his life in Paris where his parents lived after relocating from Marseille in 1814 when Daumier was six years old. His father Jean-Baptiste was a glazier and an aspiring poet. At a young age, Daumier displayed an artistic talent, but his father discouraged him from pursuing that line of profession, and pushed him to pursue other pragmatic professions. He started working as an errand boy for a law firm at the age of 12 out of necessity. However, he continued to insist on his artistic talent, and at the age of 14 he was enrolled in art lessons under artist Alexandre Lenoir, his father’s friend. He was so dedicated in art that he would go into the art room alone to sketch some sculptures. He later joined the Academie Suisse where he started to draw life models. He began learning and experimenting lithography when he started working with Lithographer Zepherin Belliard.
At the age of 21, Daumier started lithography by emulating the works of preceding artists including painter Nicolas Toussaint Charlet. Following the French Revolution of 1830, Daumier started to open up to politics, expressing his political ideals through pamphlets. He chose pamphlets at an earlier stage of his career because they were easier and cheaper to produce and distribute. The French press was already well-established with prominent artists who produced satirical images to critique the established order. Daumier joined this field where artists would suffer high prices of intense censorship for challenging the French political discourse through art. However, he did not relent; instead he produced prolific lithographs that challenged the political class and depicted the social evils of the French societies in all possible aspects. One of the lithographs that emerged out of this endeavor was the horrific lithograph, Rue Transnonain, which was inspired by the April 1834 resurrections.
Daumier was inspired by the same desire for social justice that inspired most of his earlier works to create Rue Transnonain. This piece of work was a painting that depicted the reality of what happened on April 14th 1834. The painting was inspired by the April 1834 insurrections, an event in which government troops opened fire on the residents of a house that was suspected to harbor rebels, leading to the massacre of an entire innocent family, followed social unrests in the city.
The image was therefore a day-after account of what had transpired on April 14th 1984, and it culminates on the Rue Transnonain, a part of the wave of protests that occurred from 15th April 1834. The protests occurred as a way of opposing a new law that had been passed by the government to ban the formation of unions in France. The government did not live up to the spirit of the French Revolution because it offered business contracts to friends of government officials, and allowed exploited of workers to continue. During the protests, a man was killed a police officer, and the police retaliated by killing people, and the family on Daumier’s lithography is one of the victims of the great atrocities committed by the government.
Figure 1: Honore Daumier’ Rue Transnonian, le 15 avril 1834.
At the first glance, a gaze at the lithography shows a straightforward image sleeping man on nightclothes; but a closer look at it reveals a more horrific experience of the social unrests in the city. The man lying on the ground is wrapped up in bed linen and appears dead. The dead man at the center of the painting lies on top of a dead baby. The painting also shows some blood on the floor. The baby’s blood looks thicker than that of the man, indicating that the baby could have died earlier than the man. The dead man lies on the bed linen that extends to a large bed, showing that the family were in their bedroom. The bed also illustrates a moment of tranquility and relaxation; hence Daumier expresses the horror of death in a place that was meant to give people peace and tranguility.
The dead man and the baby show the horrific situation of the insurrections, complemented by two bodies lying on the left and right side of the image. The body on the left side is a woman who could possibly be the man’s wife. The other body on the right shows only the head and the shoulder of a man, signifying the insignificance of the body to Daumier’s work; but it definitely complements the other compositions of the painting to create a complete image of the horrors experienced in the insurrection. The dead man is most likely to be Mr. Hue lying on top of his dead child. Mr. Hue was identified as the man of the house that was attacked during the brutal massacre by the National Guard. The woman lying on the right was also identified as Madame Godefrey.
The printed form of this painting was displayed in the shop of Aubert’s editing house in Paris a few days after the incident. The censor approved its publication, but the government destroyed most of the prints. Daumier did not accuse the government directly for perpetrating the attacks, but claimed that he was reporting mere facts on the image. Nonetheless, the king ordered that the lithograph should be confiscated and all its copies be identified and destroyed. Only a few copies remained. The image was published on October 2, 1834 by L'Association Mensuelle, and it is currently displayed in various museums and galleries, including the Yale University Art Gallery.
The space on the front part of the image is empty as if the viewer was viewing the scene from the confines of the room, perhaps from the door. The empty space complements the horror of the painting because it allows the viewer to think beyond the dead bodies and contemplate about the unseen experiences of the social unrests. Daumier used the space to include some aspects of light and darkness in the painting to demonstrate the struggle between dark evil forces of the bourgeoisie and the hope of an unrelenting population who continue to fight for their rights. Light illuminates the area where the man lies against the bed, showing the relationship between the struggle, comfort and hope. The bed is supposed to be a place of tranquility and comfort. The man died on the same bed, with light shining on him and the bed; hence Daumier wanted to illustrate that the people die while fighting for their rights so that they can benefit from the fruits of their struggle in the future.
The mood of the lithography is a calm one, different from other lithographs produced by Daumier. The calmness extends from the bed through the linen to the dead bodies and empty space in front of the painting. The dead man looks to be resting peacefully on his bed. This mood creates an illusion of tranquility, but viewers cannot help but see the horrors behind this tranquility. There are shadows at the corner of the room that warn of the danger that might be lying beneath the calm bed.
Analysis
Daumier’s work has played a significant contribution to his society in a time of realism and social and political upheavals. Despite his minimal use of space and composition, Daumier uses his lithography in a persuasive manner to his ideas on reality. He does not need to write commentaries or speak about his political ideas; the lithography speaks for him. In the haunting lithography of Rue Transnonain, Daumier uses a potent and serious tone to express horrifying experiences of the police brutality during the April 14th insurrections. The lithography puts the insurrections in context with the political and social conditions of France in the 1830s during the political era of King Louis Philippe.
In 1830, an alliance between the liberal bourgeoisie, the people of Paris, and the Republic Party endorsed King Louis Philippe as the leader of France. His initial political philosophy was to remain in the ‘juste milieu’ (the just middle). However, what he said did not reflect his actions because he was committed to serving his bourgeoisie followers rather than the people. The number of people allowed to vote doubled under Philippe’s kingship, but the rights to vote remained exclusively in the hands of the rich. It was only extended from the extremely rich people to the less rich. Therefore, an effort that was intended to France to a more enfranchised system for all turned out to be a preserve of a few allied elites and the ruling class. It appeared that Philippe’s intention was to empower the bourgeoisie and undermine the power of the people. He increased the size and authority of his own army and reduced the power of the citizen’s militia.
As part of increasing the government power, he silenced the people by authorizing his cabinet member, Casimir Perier, to shut down numerous labor unions. The same labor unions were formed during the early years of Philippe’s rule, but they became key targets in the government’s new censorship ideals. The bourgeoisie was significantly empowered through the government’s economic dealings. The government officials seemed to be in office only to enrich themselves. For example, the government awarded mining and railway contracts freely to members of the bourgeoisie class while the working class experienced poor working conditions. Without labor unions, the poor workers had no power or means to call for increased pay or reduced working hours. Due to these poor conditions, the people took to the streets to protest, leading to the killing of a police officer. The police retaliation that followed the killing led to the April 14 insurrection that inspired Rue Transnonain.
The composition, use of space, and the mood of the painting illustrate the horrors of the police brutality and social unrest in the city of France. First, the painting is horrifying because all the four people presented in the painting are dead. The man lying on top of a small child is wrapped in a bed linen and has night clothes. In this regard, he died hopelessly in the hands of the police who should have protected rather than kill him. The two bodies on the right and left sides complement the horrifying situation while the bed completes the composition of the painting. Bed is often a symbol of tranquility, so it could be playing a neutralizing effect to detract viewers from the awfulness of the brutal massacre.
The Rue Transnonain also reflects Daumier’s key ideas on realism through emotional appeal. His painting style entails a loose but poignant and expressive Brushwork. It is also consistent with the controlled and polished neoclassical paintings. Like other romantic artists, Daumier imbued the Rue Transnonian lithography with a lot of emotion and still drama. Therefore, Daumier’s work was an expressive representation of the realism. In Rue Transnonian, Daumier expresses the plights of the low class members of society who are constantly attacked and mistreated by the government. Like many of his art works, Rue Transnonian confronted the political upheavals and social unrests of his society. As a realist artist, he painted the true happenings of his society by creating a lithography of the family that perished in the hands of the police brutality; hence exposing the consequences of an oppressive regime, political instabilities, and social unrests.
In the 19th century, painters painted the images of ordinary people in their normal routines as they struggled against the brutal experiences of the industrialization. In Rue Transnonian, Daumier captured the reality of these experiences in a political and social perspective. The setting of the room in which the painting is based depicts a real situation of a politically unstable society. Through the harsh political and social conditions of the society, people die in their homes, leading to complete destruction of families and leaving trails of disaster everywhere. Daumier chose an excellent location to present the plights of his society. The painting captures the house of a poor man’s homestead in a horrific situation to express the real experiences of poor people in an unstable political environment.
According to Pierre, the arts help in confronting social realities experienced in societies. In this regard, Daumier painted a good picture of his society in a way that remains historically marvelous. In 1800s, France was going through a period of increased schooling and literacy, and high desire for realism over romanticism. In this regard, the French artists of this time avoided romantic themes in their work. Daumier’s Lithography involved realist themes like those envisaged in the novels of Charles Dickens in 1800s. Dickens published various articles illustrating the plights of hungry orphans, greedy bankers, and political opportunists. Daumier joined this group of realists to help shape the society through art. Through Rue Transnonain, Daumier became a model for his generation and future generations due to his unwavering commitment to use art to expose evils, express real emotions and ideas, and communicate a message of hope to the hopeless.
Critics such as Theodore de Banville and Baudelaire commented that Daumier was one of the most important artists of his time, worthy to be compared with great artists such as Goya and Hogarth. In fact, the Rue Transnonain was inspired by The Third of May, 1808, a painting by Francisco Goya. Like Daumia, Goya’s artwork depicted the realities of the French society after an aftermath of the massacre of civilians. During Goya’s era, the king of Spain killed the troops of French King, Napoleon. In retaliation, King Napoleon executed a number of civilians. Similarly, Daumier’s painting was inspired by King Philippe’s retaliation through massacre of civilians after the killing of his police officer. Daumier makes a detailed account of the April 14 tragedy much like Goya’s Third May, 1808.
Another person who inspired Daumier was Eugene Delacroix with his painting called Liberty Leading the People (1830). There are similarities between Daumier’s work and that of Delacroix in terms of composition because they both had dead mean lying on the floor. The two artists were also contemporaries who used art to portray the true happenings of society. Both of them are driven by the same desire for social and political change in their paintings. As Daumier was inspired by past artists, he also influenced many future contemporary and non-contemporary artists and political actors.
Daumier’s Rue Transnonain has also influenced many artists and political thinkers across the world. The tone, contrast of light and dark, and the mood of the image; as well as his themes of political critique and social realism have influenced many people. Some of the people influenced by his work include: Constantine Meunier, Gustave Courbet, Henri Matisse, and Edgar Degas. He also influenced contemporary artists such as Jean-Francois Millet and Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot. Due to this influence, Daumier attracted positive comments from famous people including Charles Baudelaire who commented that Daumier is among the most important men in the field of caricature and modern art.
The honest depiction of realism in Daumier’s realism set the pace for future realist and progressive artists. For example, Manet and Degas have created images of panhandlers, barmaids, and other outcasts of society to reflect the sympathetic daily life of Daumier. In the generations that followed, several artists including German expressionists and American scene painters have adopted his expressive form of art to illustrate the lives of members of their societies, especially the poor working class.
Constantine Meunier is one of the artists that have followed in the footsteps of Daumier’s lithography. Meunier spent most of his artistic career to create statues of industrial workers to express the experiences of the working class members of the society. In Daumier’s work, he showed a family that died fighting for their rights, Daumier also has other paintings of women who defy the ideals of beauty as depicted by romanticists, to carry out social and economic activities to survive. Similarly, Constantine Meunier developed this expressive method to depict the problems ailing society. For example, he painted Saint Etienne, 1867, to illustrate the early Christian Matryr, St. Stephen who was stoned to death for defending the poor. Like Daumier, Constantine painted a picture of a motionless man on white linen, with blood on his cloth. The image also has some contrasts of black and white, but Constantine chose more darkness to show the evils of his society. Therefore, Constantine adopted Daumier’s realist approach to show the difficult situations that poor people, especially the workers, go through under oppressive regimes.
Other significant artists influenced by Daumier’s work are his contemporaries Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot and Jean-Francois Millet. Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot was moved by Daumier so much that he bought a house for him at Auvers in 1872 when he was blind, poor and homeless. However, Camille focused on landscape painting, expressing the landscape of his environment. On the other hand, Jean-François Millet concentrated on realist scenes of peasant farmers, to express their day-to-day experiences as they carry out their farming activities to survive. One of the images that resemble that of Daumier is Diana Resting, circa 1845. This image shows a woman resting on the floor with a white dress, and another person lying next to him. The mood is calm like in Daumier’s Rue Transnonain, and it also shows contrasting colors of black and white which bring out light and darkness. The light shines on the woman who is perhaps resting after a day’s heavy work; hence expressive the experiences of peasant farmers in the period.
Daumier’s Rue Transnonain is also still relevant today. The world is still going through various injustices which affect people’s lives. Political and social problems are experienced in every human society, and there are always men like Daumier who are willing to fight against such forces using all the possible means. There are various artists who have adopted realist approach to paint the real picture of what is happening in society. The current group of artists should emulate Daumier’s determination and resilience to expose the political and social ills that may haunt the world in many years to come. Daumier’s image is a constant reminder that we live in a world in which we face imminent dangers.
I chose this Daumier’s lithography because it envisages my sociopolitical ideology of social realism and revolution. I believe that the power lies in the hands of the people, and it is upon them to rise against any political power that tries to deny them their rights, freedoms and liberties. The bodies of three dead adults and one dead child can be used in protests and civil actions to show resistance against any regime that tries to demean or take away people’s powers and rights. It can be displayed in public places to remind the people that there are those who die for worthy causes, and to encourage the government to respect the will of the people and give them equal opportunities to participate in economic and political systems.
Bibliography
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