"Those are really scrambled eggs!" 1866

Editor: This is "Those are really scrambled eggs!" by Honoré Daumier. It’s a lithograph, and the scene is just so frantic! All those eggs... What do you make of it? Curator: Well, eggs are ancient symbols of fertility and new beginnings, but here, overwhelmed by smoke and the cook's worried expression, they seem more chaotic. The spiked helmet he's wearing – do you think that’s a symbol of domestic tyranny? Editor: Tyranny, really? I just thought it was a funny hat! Curator: Daumier often used everyday scenes to critique social structures. Consider the gazes - what do they tell us about the relationship between the two men? Is this commentary on power, or perhaps, the anxieties of everyday life? Editor: That gives me a lot to think about, especially about the way ordinary objects can take on so much meaning. Curator: Indeed. Daumier reminds us that even scrambled eggs can tell a story.