A Fair Reward Presented in 1800 by the Un-Prudish Savages of North America to Louis-Philippe of Orléans, surgeon and expatriate, but still a Frenchman. (I salute you, gracious Black Lady, the Lord is with you.) A Namaquan Ave Maria, plate 466
Medium
Lithograph in black on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 20.3 × 26.5 cm (8 × 10 7/16 in.); Sheet: 27.4 × 34.5 cm (10 13/16 × 13 5/8 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
86408
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
In this print Daumier transformed an actual event from Louis Philippe’s years in exile in America (1796–99) into a bawdy bedroom farce. To thank him for successfully providing medical aid to a member of his tribe, a Native American chief invited Louis Philippe to sleep between his grandmother and great aunt—an offer he could not politely refuse. The depiction of Native Americans as tattooed and sagging figures with eager sexual appetites reflects 19th-century racial prejudices and inverts the bo...
About the Artist
Honoré-Victorin Daumier · 1808–1879
Honoré-Victorin Daumier (1808-1879) was a prolific French printmaker, caricaturist, painter, and sculptor whose works offered incisive commentary on the social and political life of 19th-century France. Known as the 'Michelangelo of Caricature,' Daumier produced over 4,000 lithographs, 500 paintings, 1,000 drawings, and 100 sculptures during his lifetime. His biting political satire led to his imp...