In his early career Daumier was known for pictorial assaults on the King of France, ministers, and other government officials published in French periodicals like Le Charivari and La Caricature. The instable political climate in France fueled Daumier’s subversive lithographs, many of which mercilessly caricatured political heavyweights. One such minister, the Comte D’Arg[out] occupied various roles in the early 1830s, but here he is attacked by Daumier for his role enforcing censorship ordinances on the press.  A false coat of arms beneath the caricature incorporates D’Argout’s hallmark nose and large shears of censorship that diminish the “Beaux Arts” and “Travaux Publiques.” Political satires from the end of Daumier’s career, like J’ai eu beau le bercer impossible de l’endormir, (1866) comment more generally on the failures of the French state to successfully mobilize democracy in its European relationships. Here “Democratie,” an old nursemaid, attempts unsuccessfully to lull a demonic imp wearing a Prussian military helmet to sleep.

In July of 1835 the French government instituted a series of censorship laws against the press. As a result, political satirists, including Daumier, turned their attention towards social aspects of French life. Many of Daumier’s satires on the habits and manners of the Parisian petite bourgeoisie spotlight pubic locations where social classes interact. Les Baigneurs depicts two sopping men who have just emerged from a public pool. Shivering from the chill of the water, one bather makes the ridiculous and unsettling suggestion that perhaps crabs lurk in the water’s depths. Physionomies de Spectateurs… explores the reaction of bourgeois audience members to a performance of Richard III, while Salon de 1842 visits a different kind of Parisian spectacle—the art exhibition—where visitors have the opportunity to compare portraits on the walls with the originals in the flesh. Daumier’s view of L’Exposition Universelle, appraises the thirsty crowds gathering behind an insouciant family who monopolizes a refreshment counter at the exposition. The large-scale building and the elaborate exhibits that filled the hall have no attraction for these visitors (or for Daumier) whose main interest is a cool drink—small relief during the dog days of summer (la canicule).  

The Bell Gallery collection contains twenty-seven lithographs by Daumier given by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Shapiro, W. S. Taylor, Jurgen Shultz and various anonymous donors.