Physical description
A man leaning over a parapet is addressing his lawyer sitting down in front of him. He is stretching his hand out toward the lawyer who turns his back to look at him.
Place of Origin
Paris
Date
ca. 1865
Materials and Techniques
Pen and black ink over traces of graphite and black chalk, heightened with white
Marks and inscriptions
‘h. D. a Monsieur Plot’/ ‘Plez’ (?)
Dedication
Verso: Lugt 2503
Dimensions
Height: 180 mm, Width: 280 mm
Object history note
C.A. Ionides, by whom bequeathed to the museum in 1900.
Historical context note
This drawing is characteristic of Daumier’s oeuvre and shows one of his favourite subjects: lawyers at court. The linear treatment of the figures is emblematical of his vigorous style, and reminiscent of his caricatures for the satirical journal Le Charivari.
Une cause criminelle (L’information) is a preparatory study for the watercolour of the same title and dated about 1865 (The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles) where the intellectual hierarchy between the lawyer and his client is restored.
The drawing can also be related to a series of sketches focusing on a lawyer pleading in the foreground (see for instance Le Defenseur, Washington, the Phillips Collection or Avant l’audience, New York, The Honorable Samuel J. and Mrs. Ethel LeFrak and Family). Moreover the gesture of this figure with his arms stretched recalls another sketch in the V&A collection entitled Avocat plaidant (see CAI. 127, verso). In both sketches, Daumier emphasizes the dramatic gesture of the characters to connect the court activity to theatrical productions.
Daumier was a prolific draughtsman hence the difficulty to date most of his sketches. However these often turn out to be preparatory studies for compositions later engraved. It is not rare to find stylistic discrepancies in Daumier’s work of the same period.
Daumier was most celebrated during his life time for his satirical and anti-monarchist illustrations rather than his paintings and drawings. This sheet is a good example of Daumier’s observation of the French society and its professional categories. He did a few series of sketches focusing on different categories such as musicians, comedians, art collectors, rustic life, saltimbanques…
Descriptive line
Drawing, 'Une Cause Criminelle' by Honoré Daumier, French School, 19th century
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
K.E. Maison, Honoré Daumier, Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, Watercolours and Drawings, London 1968, vol. II, The Watercolours and Drawings, London 1968, p.217, cat. no. 654
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.17. cat. no. 125
Honoré Daumier 1808-1879, Paris, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1999, p. 438, cat. 280.
C. Ives, M. Stuffman, M. Sonnabend, Honoré Daumier Zeichnungen, Stadtische Galerie im Stadelschen Kunstinstitut, 1993, p. 22, ill. 21
H. Frantz and O. Uzanne, Daumier and Gavarni (Studio Special Number), London, 1904, pl. D.50.
E. Fuchs, Der Maler Daumier, Munich, 1927, cat. no. 199a.
E. Klossowski, Honoré Daumier, Munich, 1908, cat. no. 167.
Ives, Colta., Stuffmann, Margaret., and Sonnabend Martin, Daumier Drawings, New York, 1992, p.22-26, 184-185
Techniques
Drawing
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
