"They told us to come to this countryside and we would find magnificent trees...but these are only good for faggots!..." 1864

Editor: This etching, "They told us to come to this countryside…", by Honoré Daumier, really captures a feeling of disillusionment, doesn’t it? All these spindly trees! What strikes you when you look at it? Curator: It's a Daumier jab, for sure. I see two figures, probably city-folk, duped into a romantic vision of nature. They seem less interested in the sublime, more in, well, firewood! It's a commentary on the urban-rural divide, but also on the commodification of landscape, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Definitely! I hadn't considered the commodification aspect so directly, that's a great point. Curator: Art reflects life, or, more accurately, how we spin our stories about it. In this case, Daumier uses humor, dark humor, to make us question what we value and expect from the world around us.