The Fugitives c. 1868

Honoré Daumier created this painting in France in the 19th century. The people depicted in the painting seem to be moving away from something as the city burns behind them. Daumier lived through years of political turmoil following the French Revolution, and he was concerned with the effects of this on the poor. In 1848, France saw a brief return to Republicanism. But by 1851, the Second Empire under Napoleon III seized power in a coup. “The Fugitives” could be seen as a commentary on the violence of those years. He renders the drama of the painting with gestural brushstrokes. The people are a mass of light and dark. The social role of art at this time was greatly debated. With the rise of industrialization, some artists wanted to show the lives of working people. Others wanted to withdraw from modern life altogether. More research into the newspapers and political pamphlets from that time would help us to more precisely understand the context for this work.