Another way to make use of the new petticoats that have lately become fashionable, plate 294 from Actualités

About this artwork

Honoré Daumier made ample fun of the voluminous wire frame skirt known as crinoline, which had been criticized for hiding the natural human form. These women use them to take flight. The fashion was not entirely without defenders: in his 1858 work De la mode (On Fashion), Théophile Gautier commended the skirt as offering a statuesque pedestal to set off the bust and head. The evolution to the crinoline skirt, from its precursor the petticoat, can be seen in the Art Institute’s summer 2013 exhibi...

Art Historical Context

Step into the sharp-witted world of Honoré-Victorin Daumier with *Another way to make use of new petticoats that lately become fashionable*, plate294 from his *Actualités* series, created in 1856. This lithograph in black on white wove (image: 26.6 × 21.8 cm) captures Daumier's signature flair, poking fun at the era's booming crinoline trend—those wide, stiff petticoats that defined mid-19th-century women's fashion in France. The title hints at a clever, perhaps cheeky alternative use for these cumbersome garments, reflecting Daumier's knack for turning everyday absurdities into biting commentary. As a master of Realism and caricature, Daumier produced thousands of lithographs for journals like *Le Charivari*, using the medium's versatility to create expressive lines and tones that could be mass-reproduced affordably. Lithography, invented decades earlier, revolutionized printmaking by allowing artists like him to reach wide audiences with affordable social critique. Here, the stark black-and-white contrasts amplify the humor and exaggeration typical of his style, critiquing bourgeois excess amid France's Second Empire under Napoleon III. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings Department, this work endures as a cultural snapshot: a reminder of how fashion's whims could spark both delight and derision, inviting us to chuckle at yesterday's trends while pondering our own.

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...