"- Oh!...ah...ah...ah...ah!" "Just fine...just fine...that proves it's alive!..." 1847

Editor: This is a print by Honoré Daumier, titled "- Oh!...ah...ah...ah...ah!" "Just fine...just fine...that proves it's alive!". I'm struck by the dark humor. What's your take on this scene? Curator: It’s a darkly funny look at bourgeois life through Daumier's keen, satirical eye. It seems to me that he's playing on the absurdity of domestic bliss, doesn't it? The man's exaggerated grimace, the woman's almost violent examination... Editor: I see what you mean! It’s less a loving check-up and more like a… probing! I wonder what Daumier was trying to say about marriage? Curator: Perhaps that beneath the surface of respectability lies a certain… struggle? Or maybe he's poking fun at the lengths people will go to maintain appearances. It's a deliciously wicked observation, wouldn’t you agree? Editor: Definitely! It makes you think about the hidden tensions within relationships. Curator: Exactly! Art that makes you ponder, even with a chuckle, is art that stays with you.