"- How are you feeling today, Mr. Chapolard? - Madame Pochet, a concierge who knows how to behave, should address her landlord only in the third person. - How can I talk to you in the third person, since you are the first person I am seeing this morning," plate 11 from Croquis Parisiens

Art Historical Context

Honoré Daumier, a master of 19th-century French caricature, captures the witty social tensions of Parisian life in this 1852 lithograph, 11 from his series *Croquis Parisi* (Parisian Sketches). The image depicts a humorous exchange between Madame Pochet, a nosy concierge, and hery landlord, Mr. Chapolard. She cheekily greets him directly, only to be scolded for breaching etiquette by not using the formal third person—prompting her retort that he's the first person she's seen that morning. Daumier's sharp satire highlights the rigid class hierarchies and petty bourgeois conventions of Second Empire France, where everyday interactions revealed deeper societal absurdities. Printed in black ink on white wove paper (image 25.9 × 21.5 cm), this lithograph exemplifies Daumier's revolutionary use of the medium. Lithography, invented decades earlier, allowed him to produce affordable, mass-distributed prints with rich tonal gradations and expressive lines, mimicking charcoal sketches. Over 4,000 lithographs in his career made him a voice for the urban underclass, critiquing authority through exaggerated gestures and facial expressions. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings Department, this work invites us to chuckle at timeless human foibles while reflecting on how Daumier's Realism influenced later social commentary in art. A delightful glimpse into 1850s Paris!

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...