The Expert 

Editor: This is Honoré Daumier's drawing, simply titled, *The Expert*. I'm struck by the scene—this room filled with art and a rather tired looking fellow sitting amidst it all. What's your read on this, and what stories might Daumier be hinting at? Curator: Well, aren't we all tired fellows amidst our own cluttered collections sometimes? Daumier was the master of the sly commentary, wasn't he? This "expert," surrounded by his artwork, looks utterly deflated. What if he isn't an expert at all, but an artist, and all of the work we see belongs to him? Or perhaps a patron who has seen enough. Think about it: the man's posture, that weary slump – is it contentment, boredom, or perhaps the weight of...art itself? Editor: That's a lovely way of thinking about it - the 'weight of art'. I like your thought that he could be the artist; maybe he's judging his own work! Curator: Exactly! It's all up for grabs. Daumier rarely hands us a neat package of meaning. And, remember, the Romantic era valued emotion above all else – so the *feeling* evoked, that’s what Daumier’s really after. A good artist does not try to control their meaning. Editor: So it's almost like he’s presenting a situation and allowing the viewer to bring their own context and emotions into it? Curator: Precisely! It's a wonderfully democratic, modern, attitude, don’t you think? A truly good drawing, in that way, is never finished. It merely awaits another viewer and another story. Editor: I'll never look at an art expert—or any artwork for that matter—the same way again. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure. That is a job well done!