26 February 1808
10 February 1879
1830 - 1879
Known as the “Michelango of Caricature,” Honore Daumier was a prolific painter, printmaker, sculptor, and caricaturist. He produced over 4000 lithographs in his lifetime, which were known for their satires of political figures and the behavior of the bourgeois inn society. As a boy he showed an inclination towards art, which his father tried to discourage, and so he put him to work as an usher. But, Daumier’s talents could not be dissuades, and he later work at a booksellers, eventually landing in the employ of Alexandre Lenoir, an artist and archaeologist, and becoming his protégé. It was here that he began making his first attempts at lithography, and began a career producing plates for music producers and advertisement illustrations.
He began working for the comic journal La Caricature during the reign of King Louis Phillippe, and produced many caricatures outlining corruption on the law, the mistakes of the bourgeois, and the incompetence of the government. It was at this time that he published a satire of the king as Gargantua, which landed him in prison for six months, after which the journal La Caricature ceased publication. He also produced caricatures for the publication Le Chavivari, holding the bourgeois up to more scrutiny
One of his favorite themes was Don Quixote, of which he drew 49 drawings, and completed 29 paintings depicting his life. Daumier received little recognition until 1878, a year before his death, when his works were put on exhibition. Posthumously, more recognition has been placed on Daumier and his revered social commentary.