The great French graphic artist Honoré Daumier made many drawings of saltimbanques (performers at fairs). In this poignant drawing an ageing clown bangs a drum balanced precariously on a chair, in the hope of attracting an audience. One acrobat son looks expectantly towards the distant crowd, while the other steadies the chair for his father. Their mother, however, sits in utter dejection, resigned to the crowd's indifference.
Physical description
Watercolour drawing of a family of circus performers outdoors at a fair. In the centre a middle-aged clown bangs a drum which is precariously balanced on a chair. He is accompanied by two boys, one standing to the left, the other sitting on the ground to the right. A middle-aged woman sits on the far left in an attitude of dejection. The clown and standing boy look towards a crowd of people in the middle distance.
Place of Origin
France (made)
Date
ca. 1866-67 (made)
Artist/maker
Daumier, born 1808 - died 1879 (artist)
Materials and Techniques
Watercolour drawing
Marks and inscriptions
Signed h. Daumier in the left-hand lower corner
Dimensions
Height: 33.7 cm, Width: 39.7 cm
Object history note
Acquired by Constantine Alexander Ionides by 1878; lent in 1878 by Ionides to Daumier exh. at Durand-Ruel in Paris, cat no. 203); in his inventory of 1881 (private collection) as 'Les Saltimbanques' with a valuation of £100; Bequeathed by C.A. Ionides, 1900
Descriptive line
Daumier, Saltimbanques, ca.1866-67, watercolour
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Colta Ives, Margret Stuffmann and Martin Sonnabend, Daumier Drawings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1992, no.112.
K.E. Maison, Honore Daumier,Catalogue Raisonne of the Paintings, Watercolours and Drawings, London 1968, vol. II,The Watercolours and Drawings, London 1968,p.181, cat. no. 542
Basil S. Long, Catalogue of the Constantine Alexander Ionides Collection, vol. I, Paintings in Oil, Tempera and Water-Colour together with certain of the Drawings, London 1925, p.16. cat. no. 120
E. Klossowski, Honoré Daumier, Munich, 1908, cat. no. 193.
E. Fuchs, Der Maler Daumier, Munich, 1927, cat. no. 256.
J. Adhémar, Honoré Daumier: Drawings and Watercolours, New York and Basel, 1954, cat. no. 46.
E. K. Maison, 'Daumier Studies I - Preparatory Drawings' in The Burlington Magazine, XCVI (January 1954), p. 14.
E. K. Maison, 'Further Daumier Studies I - The Tracings' in The Burlington Magazine, XCVIII (May 1956), p.165.
Ives, Colta., Stuffmann, Margaret., and Sonnabend Martin, Daumier Drawings, New York, 1992, p.224-227
Exhibition History
'Most magnificent and generous': master drawings, watercolours and prints from the Ionides Bequest (Victoria and Albert Museum 01/10/2005-30/11/2008)
Materials
Pen and ink and watercolour; Chalk
Techniques
Drawn
Subjects depicted
Clowns; Fairground; Performers; Performing artists
Collection code
PDP
