When It's Thirty Degrees Centigrade... 1847

Curator: Here we have Honoré Daumier's lithograph, "When It's Thirty Degrees Centigrade…," likely from the 1840s, part of his "Les Bons Bourgeois" series. Editor: The mood strikes me as one of burdened leisure. The cross-hatching creates a dense, claustrophobic backdrop, contrasting the would-be idyllic scene. Curator: Daumier was a master of social critique through caricature. The slumped posture and exaggerated features of the bourgeois man carry so much meaning. Editor: Absolutely. This image encapsulates the tension between the idealized vision of bourgeois relaxation and the realities of class, labor, and gendered expectations within it. Curator: Indeed, the lizards mentioned in the caption might symbolize hidden anxieties creeping into their artificial paradise. Editor: A reminder that even leisure is a performance, a stage where power dynamics are subtly played out. Curator: A poignant reminder to consider the context behind every image of relaxation we encounter. Editor: It also shows that Daumier’s work speaks to the timelessness of social anxieties.