"Thief of a tailor...what bad fabric he gives me...another suit that's shrunk!..." 1847

Editor: So this is Honoré Daumier's lithograph, "Thief of a tailor...what bad fabric he gives me...another suit that's shrunk!", and the cross-hatching really emphasizes the… unpleasantness of the situation. What stands out to you? Curator: The print implicates the entire system of production and consumption. Look at the coarse lines, mirroring the shoddy fabric and rushed labor. It's not just a bad tailor; it's a critique of industrial shortcuts affecting the bourgeoisie. Editor: So, it's not just about the one tailor, but the quality of materials and the way things were being made? Curator: Precisely. Daumier highlights the material realities underpinning bourgeois life, exposing the exploitation inherent in cheap goods. Editor: That's a completely different way of looking at it. I hadn't considered the means of production at all. Curator: Considering the material underpinnings offers new insights.