The search for a house in the country: What is especially beautiful, sir, is the view!, from 'Parisian habits,' published in Le Charivari, April 25, 1866

Art Historical Context

In the bustling satirical world of mid-19th-century Paris, Honoré Daumier, alongside collaborators Arnaud de Vresse andouches, created *The Search for a House in the: What is Especially Beautiful, Sir, is the View This 1866 lithograph, the second state of two, appeared in the series *Parisian Habits* within *Le Charivari*, a humorous newspaper renowned for skewering French society. Daumier, a master of caricature, captured the era's social pretensions with his signature expressive lines and exaggerated features, printed on wove paper for sharp reproduction. The image humorously depicts a bourgeois couple inspecting a rural property, with the woman effusing over the "beautiful view"—likely a wry nod to the era's urbanites fleeing Paris's grime for idealized countryside escapes during the Second Empire. Amid Napoleon III's modernizing Paris, such aspirations often clashed with reality, making this a pointed satire on class, gender roles, and fleeting romanticism. Tags like "Satire," "Men," and "Women" underscore its focus on domestic dynamics. As a lithograph from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints collection (Rogers Fund, 1922), it exemplifies lithography's revolutionary role in democratizing art—allowing thousands to chuckle at Daumier's incisive commentary. At just 9⅝ × 7⅞ inches, this gem invites us to laugh at timeless follies of home-hunting dreams.

About the Artist

Arnaud de Vresse|Honoré Daumier|Destouches (French|French|French) · 1808 |1800 |1856 –1879 |1900 |1870

French, Marseilles 1808–1879 Valmondois|Paris|