Comme quoi la gymnastique forme les membres... 1845

Honoré Daumier made this lithograph, "Comme quoi la gymnastique forme les membres...," using a technique that relies on stark contrasts to highlight the absurd. Look at how Daumier orchestrates the composition around the horizontal bar, using it as a fulcrum for physical comedy. The hapless student dangling by the rope on the left is balanced by another flailing precariously on the right, while the stern teacher is framed in between. The children below are depicted as a mass of uniformity, their individuality suppressed. Daumier's use of caricature destabilizes the established values of physical education, suggesting it may do more harm than good. The exaggerated features, especially the teacher's elongated nose, serve as visual signs that challenge fixed meanings. The formal qualities of this lithograph, with its strategic use of line and form, thus become part of a larger cultural critique, inviting ongoing interpretation of education and its discontents.