"Coachman! The hand of our daughter!" 1867

Curator: This is Honoré Daumier's "Coachman! The hand of our daughter!" a lithograph printed in the 19th century. Editor: It feels like a desperate plea frozen in ink—so much raw emotion etched into those faces. Curator: Daumier was a master of lithography, a process allowing for mass production and distribution. Consider the social critique embedded in this accessibility. Editor: The raised hands, the supplicating pose... It evokes centuries of art depicting religious devotion, now twisted into a satire of bourgeois desperation. Curator: Exactly. The material conditions of the press enabled Daumier to disseminate this potent commentary on social mobility and the commodification of marriage. Editor: I see those symbols amplified through the exaggeration, the caricature. The desperation almost dehumanizes them. Curator: Yes, and by understanding its printing process, we recognize its direct engagement with, and influence upon, public opinion at the time. Editor: Thank you, that perspective highlights how these potent images continue to resonate through their visual language. Curator: And through their material presence, endlessly reprinted and circulated, affecting the social fabric.