"Wait... If I had had time to get myself together..." 1869

Curator: This lithograph, currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums, is by Honoré Daumier. The piece is titled, "Wait... If I had had time to get myself together...". Editor: It’s stark, almost pleading. The figure seems caught between a classical ideal and a very human sense of unpreparedness. Curator: Daumier often used his art to address social and political issues. Consider this work as a commentary on the hurried promises of liberty, perhaps. Editor: Yes! This feels especially relevant when we reflect on how liberation movements often demand immediate transformation without addressing the need for systemic change, for individuals to find their footing. Curator: Precisely. Daumier’s visual language really captures the complex, and often rushed, narrative of societal progress. Editor: It makes you wonder, what does it truly mean to be free, and at what cost is that freedom obtained?