"See how they've taken down my walls along with the chimney flues...they should never let renters make fires!" by Honoré Daumier

"See how they've taken down my walls along with the chimney flues...they should never let renters make fires!"

1848

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Artwork details

Dimensions
35.2 x 51.8 cm (13 7/8 x 20 3/8 in.)
Location
Harvard Art Museums
Copyright
CC0 1.0

About this artwork

Curator: This lithograph by Honoré Daumier, titled "See how they've taken down my walls along with the chimney flues...they should never let renters make fires!", presents a seemingly simple landlord-tenant dispute. Editor: It definitely has a satirical feel. What strikes me is the stark contrast between the landlord's outrage and the evident, almost comical, state of disrepair. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Daumier critiques not just landlords, but the socio-economic structures of 19th-century France. Consider the power dynamic: the landlord, likely bourgeois, decrying the damage caused by those renting from him, probably working-class individuals just trying to survive. Editor: So, it's less about the literal damage and more about the inherent inequalities? Curator: Precisely. Daumier uses humor to expose those inequalities, inviting us to question who truly holds power and at whose expense. Editor: I see it now. It is so much more than a dispute. Thank you.

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