Honore Daumier

Honore Daumier
Les Robert Macaire, 1836-1838
911

1 3/8 x 10 7/8 in. (3.5 x 27.5 cm)

100 hand colored lithographs with water color and gum arabic. Robert Macaire was the main character in a five-act play entitled, L’Auberge des adrets, which was first performed in 1823. The play suffered terribly on opening night, but thanks to the ingenuity of the actor Frederick Lemaitre and some major revisions, it soon became quite popular. Frederick Lemaitre turned the character into a proud, confident, and devious swindler. The Macaire that appeared on the stage, and the one that would appear over a decade later in Daumier’s prints was the epitome of the self-absorbed, self-promoting crook. He represented all of society’s ills in a clownish but pointedly cynical way.

Price Upon Request