L'amateur de melons c. 19th century

Curator: Ah, look at this one! Honoré Daumier’s “L'amateur de melons,” a lithograph print from around the 19th century. The very lines breathe character. Editor: My first thought? Comical melancholy. The tones are so restrained, almost gray. Yet, the fellow holding the melon is obviously experiencing such joy! Is this irony, a social critique, or just plain whimsy? Curator: I think Daumier was keenly attuned to the human comedy, the gap between aspiration and reality. Look at the text: "Ah! God be praised! I believe that this time I have at last met the melon of my dreams!" Is he truly experiencing bliss, or is this just another instance of fleeting, ultimately unsatisfying pleasure? Editor: Right! He captures the way societal expectation and individual longing clash. It seems the print originated in “Les beaux jours de la vie,” a humorous journal, pointing towards the role of laughter as a release in times of turmoil. His slightly caricatured features – that nose! – really emphasize a longing perhaps bordering on obsession. Curator: Exactly! And notice the setting, so unglamorous. A simple market stand overflowing with melons – or are those pumpkins? – and another, less-exuberant customer beside him. It’s about everyday life elevated to this almost spiritual quest. The amateur of melons. A true romantic, in pursuit of… fruit! Editor: And Daumier uses line to delineate social boundaries too, doesn’t he? This "amateur" with his top hat is sharply distinguished from the other shopper, more sketch-like and unrefined, almost swallowed by their surrounding. It suggests class divisions and varying degrees of access to these supposed "beautiful days of life." The ability to savor such a simple pleasure could itself be a privilege. Curator: A lovely observation. Daumier so often saw beauty, and critique, in the mundane. I always feel refreshed looking at his work. It reminds me to look closely and, you know, find the poetry in the everyday, even if that is as bizarre as adoring melons. Editor: Well said! It makes me wonder what our modern day “melons” are – those everyday objects of desire we project so much onto, individually and collectively, that are simultaneously joyful and hopelessly steeped in systems of inequalities.