Hugo, Eyeing the Blue Canopy... 1843

Editor: This print by Honoré Daumier, titled "Hugo, Eyeing the Blue Canopy..." features this striking image of Victor Hugo looking up. It's quite satirical, wouldn't you say? What can you tell me about its context? Curator: Daumier often used caricature to critique the social and political elite. The playbill for "Les Burgraves" suggests Hugo's grand aspirations were met with… less than universal acclaim. Do you notice how the starry sky, usually a symbol of lofty ideals, seems almost threatening here? Editor: Yes, it's like a celestial condemnation. Was Daumier commenting on Hugo's perceived arrogance? Curator: Precisely. Daumier used imagery to speak to the politics of the Parisian theater scene and, more broadly, to the fraught relationship between artistic ambition and public reception. Editor: That's fascinating, it gives the caricature a completely different layer of meaning. I'll never look at Daumier the same way again.