Basic information:
Artist: Honore Daumier
Title: Freedom of the Press: Don't Meddle with it
Year: 1834
Dimensions:(30.5x43.2)cm
Essay:
In
this article, I will firstly introduce the artwork “Freedom of the Press: Don’t
meddle with it” and give the full details of the work. This article also
contains the explanation of how this work fits into realism and the reason why
this work interest me a lot.
The
name of the artwork is Freedom of the Press: Don’t meddle with it. It drew by
Honore Daumier in 1834. The medium is lithograph and the dimension is 30.7 x
43.2 cm. This painting is a
caricature. Honore Daumier has been called the "Michelangelo
of caricature" and his place in history as the caricaturist of 19th
century French political and social history is assured. When
we first look at this artwork, we can easily discover that this artwork
contains three parts. However, without doubt, most of the viewer will firstly
focus on the man stands at front. The artwork spotlights the man as we can see
that he stands at front and the middle of the artwork. Also, he was the biggest
size man in this work. After recognizing the significance, we will have a
deeper look about the meaning of different parts. The man stands at front is
wearing working-class dress. He stands firm with a serious facial expression, holds
the fists firmly. Moreover, just behind him, we could discover a rock written “Freedom
of the Press”. On the left, members of the bourgeoisie feebly brandish an
umbrella. On the right, the dethroned and crownless figure of Charles X
receives ineffectual aid from two other monarchs in configuration. From the
whole structure and the expression of different people, we could see that the
painting is expressing the idea that power of the press is ultimately greater
than that of a king.
The
work “Freedom of the Press: Don’t meddle with it” is a Realism style artwork.
The definition about Realism is of paramount importance. The school focussed on worker and peasant scenes
depicted in a gritty or earthy manner. From this artwork, we could find the
gritty manner too. Let us focus on the man stands at front, he was actually a
young printer
personifying the freedom of the press. From his facial expression,
we could see his gritty manner as a printer. As I mentioned above, he has a serious
and steady facial expression. He looks for the left side without any smile on
his face and a determined jaw. In addition, from his hands and posture we could
see his gritty manner too. He stands firm, with clenched fists which identified
that he was confirmed for the thing he does.
Besides,
Realism is a movement that aims for a truthful and objective representation of
the real world. The primary concerns of the
realist movement were direct observation of society and nature, and political
and social satire”. From the artwork “Freedom of the Press: Don’t meddle with
it” we could see the characteristic about the realism. The painter Daumier used
the depiction of dress to express different characters. The printer is wearing
in working-class dress, not an elegant or rich dressing. On the left side, we
could see the bourgeoisies are wearing more grand clothing which identify that
they are middle class. On the other hand, the king and monarch have crowns and
specific imperial clothing. Daumier observed the clothing of different people
and different stage and he uses some symbolised clothing to identify the status
of the characters.
In addition, another definition about realism is
that in the visual arts the style that best corresponded to the new social
awareness is realism. From this painting, we could clearly recognise its
meaning. It is about the press power is greater than the king. We could
discover in the painting that the printer is at front and he stands firm in
front of the “freedom of press”. On the other hand, the bourgeoisie is angry
and the king is going to die. We could conclude that the power of the press
defeats the other power. It relates to the social awareness that people starts
to discover the importance of the press. Drawing this painting is to spread the
idea that the power of press can defeat the power of king.
Lastly, realism style engages in social comment and
satire. This painting is a caricature and it is easy to understands its behind
meaning. It satirizes the power of the rich and the king. Although the rich has
money and power and the king has the unlimited and supreme power, they lose to
the power of press. Freedom of press is of utmost importance to the society.
The press could change the thinking of the citizens and even create the
revolution to the unfairness.
After explaining how the artwork relates to
the Realism style, I will talk more about the reason why this work interest me
a lot.
Before discussing about the reason why I
choose this painting, I would like to explain the reason why I would choose
realism. In the art history, there are many different styles, like, cubism,
expressionism. In many art history book, the article introduces realism is far
less than expressionism and impressionism. However, I still insist to choose
realism. The reason is that the painting in realism is describing something
real exist. In some style, like expressionism, it may not be the real and
existing thing in the world. I would want to explore more about the real thing
happen in the 19th century and have a deeper look and understanding
of them. Realism is a style which will express the direct observation of
society and nature. Some of the paintings engage in social comment and satire
too. It is so much attractive to me. As I learnt before, before the realism,
the artworks are mainly for the religion, political and the imperial. However,
after the realism, the art can open to other social background. The artwork is
created for the society and expresses the opinion of the society. We could see
that, realism is an important period which leads the artworks to the mass.
The reason why
I choose this specific painting is that it is a caricature. Caricature is a
more special expression than the one with color. Other colorful painting, color
is an important element. It can express the atmosphere and feeling of the whole
painting. It can also strengthen the meaning of the painting too. However, in
this painting, color is not the main element anymore. We need to observe the
painting in order to understand the meaning of the painting. The more
interesting thing is that, caricature is always depicts the satire of the
society. I can know more about that century by the painting.
Realism
style also has many caricatures, the reason I choose this painting is that it
relates to nowadays life too. It is hard for me to give comment on the painting
technique or whether it is beautiful as different people have different view. I
desire to talk about the expression of Daumier. We could see he clearly express
the meaning by the structure of the painting, the gesture, the depiction of the
dress and the facial expression of different characters. The viewer can easily
understand the meaning. Another important thing interests me a lot than other
painting is the meaning of this artwork. The painting implies that the power of
press is greater than the power of king. This meaning is still important in nowadays
life and it is still a social issue at present. This painting can disseminate
to nowadays society and it can be a historical example too.
In
conclusion, “Freedom of the Press: Don’t meddle with it” is a Realism style
caricature. It engages in social comment and satire. It is an interesting
painting and I grasp more information about this style and 19th
century.
Reference:
1. Laurie Schneider-Adams, Art Across Time, Boston:
McGraw Hill College, 2002, 779).
2. Duro and Greenhalgh, Essential Art History,
London: Bloomsbury, 1992, 246
3. Nochlin,
Linda, Realism in art, Pelician,1971
4. Art
gallery NSW, collection, Honore Daumier, website: http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/DO33.1967/
5. Artable, Honore
Daumier, website: http://www.artble.com/artists/honore_daumier
6. Honore
Daumier- Revenge via caricature , website: http://opinionatedart.com/caricaturists/2013/6/2/honor-daumier-the-reluctant-master-of-caricature-part-2
Presentation:
- Further information
- In 1832 Daumier served time in prison for an inflammatory
caricature of King Louis-Philippe. Two years later he drew this defiant
image of a strong young printer personifying the freedom of the press.
On the right hand side we see the fallen King Charles X, attended by
foreign monarchs with money bags. On the right hand side the angry
figure waving an umbrella is intended for Louis-Philippe.
The implication of this image is that the power of the press is ultimately greater than that of a king.
• Q: Realism took place between about 1840 and 1870/1890. This picture drew in 1830. Is it still a realism painting? How can we identify?
Kassidy WONG:
ReplyDelete1.
Wrote a lot about Realism and the reasons of choosing this paintings, especially in those three paragraphs in Realism. She explained the Realism clearly and shown how the painting related to Realism. Caricature is also another good point that has not been mentioned in the lecture.
2.
- Well-organized. Clearly see the distribution of the content.
- More quotations are needed. I can see no quotation (or I have missed it) in the draft essay.
- Writer has used her own words to write but some of them are difficult to understand (like the part in Realism and the composition of the painting)
- The composition of the painting can be more detailedly described. That part is only written in two long paragraphs.
- Introduction (O) Conclusion (O)
Kassidy:
ReplyDeleteone more thing to add - reference list should be arranged according to aphalbetical order.
Cheeling Yiu:
ReplyDeleteAn interesting description about the painting and clear reasons for choosing this painting. Well organised in a sepearted way of different aspects you talked about. Introduction and conclusion are included, but I think the conclusion can conclude more in detail about what you have presented above. Most of time, you are using your own words and the ideas are easy to understand. However, is there any quotation missing throughout the paragraphs, such as when you introducing the historical background of the painting?
Last but not least, the picture embedded here has a mark of "snipping tools" on it, could you replace the picture with another one?