An Excusable Error. Chickens thinking they have found the cage where they spent their early childhood, plate 21 from La Crinolomanie
Medium
Lithograph in black on white wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 20.8 × 26.9 cm (8 1/4 × 10 5/8 in.); Sheet: 27.2 × 36 cm (10 3/4 × 14 3/16 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
84618
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This lithograph focuses on the outlandish crinoline fashion, which lasted about a decade. Among other activities, Daumier’s exuberant crinolines destroy gardens, sweep up street trash, and catch their wearers in high winds and turnstiles. While this plate comes from the Actualités series, it has also been catalogued under the topic La crinolomanie (Crinoline Mania). This sheet and others by Daumier play on the support garment’s incongruous approximation of the human form. Daumier’s images stress...
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...