Qu’est-ce-que ça? (…) - LES HIPPOPHAGES

Qu’est-ce-que ça? (…) is a original b/w litographes plate (n.13), from the satirical series Les Hippophages, composed of 10 plates of caricatures “ de mœurs” (of behaviours), realized by  Honoré Daumier  (France, 1808-1879) and published by the Maison Martinet, Paris, on the French Periodical,  Le Charivari  between 1856 -58.

Printed by Destouches.

Inscriptions: Monogrammed on stone , h.D, 182..

Complete caption : Qu’est-ce que ça? / Mais monsieur, c’est du pied de cheval, le cuisinier a pensé que vous l’aimeriez à la poulette….

Second State/II

Reference: H .  Delteil, Catalogue Raisonné, 2788.

Superb original print, full margins, on thin vellum, slightly oxidized.  With autograph certificate of circulation written in balck ink, dated ( Paris, Juin 8th, 1858 ) and signed by the lithographer Destouches , on the lower margin. With minor aging sings, this plate is overall in very good condition.

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Honoré-Victorin Daumier  (Marseille,1808 – Valmondois, 1879)

The French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, through his artworks, Honoré Daumier, offers us commentary on the social and political life in France, from the Revolution of 1830 to the fall of the second Napoleonic Empire in 1870. Caricatures and cartoons of political figures, satirizing the behavior of his countrymen in newspapers and periodicals was his main activity, for which he became popular in his lifetime and is remebered and appreciate still today. He was a republican democrat whose targets were the bourgeoisie, the church, lawyers and the judiciary, politicians, and the monarchy. His talented and satiric pencil had a very high cost on his life: he was jailed for several months in 1832 after the publication of Gargantua because of a offensive depiction of King Louis-Philippe.  Charles Baudelaire noticed the Daumier's production and greatly admired his paintings, which were to have an influence on a younger generation of impressionist and postimpressionist painters. Later generations have come to recognize Daumier as one of the great French artists of the 19th century. Daumier was prolific artist that produced more than 100 sculptures, 500 paintings, 1000 drawings, 1000 wood engravings, and 4000 lithographs.