Vous croyez peut être que c'est un spectateur... c. 19th century

This lithograph was made by Honoré Daumier, a French artist known for his satirical commentary on 19th-century French society. Daumier was a master of lithography, a printmaking technique that uses a stone or metal plate with a smooth surface. The image is drawn on the surface with a greasy substance, and then ink is applied. The ink sticks to the greasy areas but not to the wet ones. The printmaker then transfers the inked image onto paper. In this print, Daumier captured a scene in a theatre, and the lithographic process allowed him to mass-produce his work. This opened up the possibility of reaching a wider audience, a different class. The marks are quite expressive, and this adds to the print's sense of immediacy and social critique. Daumier's work blurs the lines between fine art and popular imagery, and he made the most of the material to convey his vision.