Les saltimbanques 1880

Curator: "Les Saltimbanques," a lithograph by Honoré Daumier from 1880, presents a street performer with an audience. Editor: It’s such a simple composition, mostly done in grey strokes, but the way Daumier captures the characters’ faces is just great. The faces of the audience are drawn so differently, and there’s an amazing focus on the street performer at the center of the piece, making it theatrical! How would you interpret the dynamic here? Curator: It is theatrical! And I see this print as Daumier's commentary on the lives of marginalized groups in 19th-century France, like traveling performers. Consider how their livelihood was often tied to societal whims and economic instability. Does that resonance speak to the present day, do you think? Editor: Absolutely. We still see inequalities today in the entertainment industries for sure. Are those caricatures, the faces, used as part of the criticism? Curator: The caricatures certainly emphasize the human cost of relentless performance. This exaggeration exposes the socioeconomic realities underpinning such scenes and encourages a questioning stance toward societal expectations. Editor: Do you think the expressions are meant to show a shared suffering, perhaps suggesting solidarity, even if some are just spectators? Curator: Precisely! Despite their varied social roles within the drawing, the weary demeanor suggests an alignment with the shared realities of economic hardship during that era. We could even use queer theory and explore Daumier’s understanding of non-conforming gender roles within the traveling troupe. What do you make of that? Editor: That’s an intriguing interpretation! I never would have thought about applying a gender lens to this lithograph, but I totally see the opportunity for it now. Thanks so much! Curator: My pleasure! Art history offers so much when it starts to speak to our current times.