Eus. Isidore Buvignier 1849

This is Honoré Daumier’s lithograph of Eus. Isidore Buvignier, one of a series of portraits that appeared in the French newspaper Le Charivari. Daumier was a master of lithography, a printmaking technique that allows for nuanced tonal gradations. A design is drawn with a greasy crayon onto a flat slab of limestone, which is then treated chemically so that the image attracts ink and the blank areas repel it. Lithography enabled the mass production of images in newspapers, and, therefore, was essential to shaping public opinion at the time. Daumier worked at incredible speed, often producing several lithographs a week. The cross-hatching and stippling that define Buvignier’s features and clothing speak to this urgency. Note the exaggerated features, especially the nose and mustache, which are characteristic of Daumier’s satirical style. His caricatures often targeted the bourgeoisie, offering biting commentary on social and political issues. Lithography blurred the lines between art, craft, and journalism, playing a crucial role in the rise of visual culture. It reminds us that the meaning of an artwork is not just in its subject matter, but also in the materials, processes, and social context of its making.