Ma femme ..., comme nous n'aurions pas ... c. 19th century

Editor: So this is Honoré Daumier's "Ma femme ..., comme nous n'aurions pas ...", dating from around the 19th century. It’s an ink and lithograph print depicting a crowd viewing art. What strikes me is how Daumier captures the act of looking, not just at the art on the walls, but the expressions on the viewers’ faces. What do you see in this piece, beyond the immediate scene? Curator: Indeed, this image speaks volumes about the culture of art consumption in 19th-century France. Look closely. What do you notice about the clothing and the posture of the figures? How does it influence your reading? Editor: They're formally dressed, aren't they? Top hats and bonnets… stiff postures, but their eyes tell a different story, of curiosity or maybe even boredom? Curator: Precisely. Daumier is tapping into the societal expectations of art viewership – the 'proper' way to engage – but also revealing the more human, perhaps contradictory, experience of being overwhelmed, the visual cacophony. The title suggests a divided viewing experience. It’s almost a symbolic splitting of the self. The husband will observe the right side of the exhibition while the wife will focus on the left. Back home they will gather to tell one another of their perspectives and experience of the whole. This hints at an alienating new dynamic taking place during this period between people and public art. Editor: That makes sense. So, is Daumier critiquing this kind of detached, almost compulsory art viewing? Curator: Possibly, or at least commenting on it. What symbols might reveal social habits here? Editor: Perhaps the sheer number of paintings crammed together? It mirrors the over-saturation of information we experience today. Thanks for illuminating the symbolic nuances of something that seemed, on the surface, to just be a genre scene. Curator: My pleasure. And remember, these images echo and inform our present experiences as viewers too, creating a long continuous visual conversation throughout time.