I'm Not Going in There Anymore! - I Think There are Crayfish Down There..., plate one from Les Baigneurs 1839 - 1842

Curator: Let’s turn our attention to "I'm Not Going in There Anymore! - I Think There are Crayfish Down There...", a lithograph on paper, conceived sometime between 1839 and 1842, by Honoré Daumier. It's part of a series called Les Baigneurs, and resides here at the Art Institute of Chicago. It's rather…evocative. What are your first impressions? Editor: Cold. I mean, just look at that skeletal figure shrinking from the water—practically vibrating with reluctance. The implied temperature, combined with these distorted bodies, speaks volumes. There's almost a sense of repulsion—yet, simultaneously, it's weirdly funny, like finding humor in the grotesque. Curator: Ah, humor in the grotesque—exactly! Daumier excelled at social commentary through caricature. Notice how he contrasts the emaciated bather with the corpulent fellow emerging from the pool. It is Romanticism with an satirical touch. Editor: Yes, the exaggerated physiques serve as blatant symbols, right? The thin man seems to represent fragility and perhaps societal anxieties about physical vulnerability. The rotund man...perhaps bourgeois indulgence, blissfully ignorant or at least unfazed? Curator: Precisely. And observe the setting; a rather dilapidated bathing house. Daumier is subtly critiquing not only individual flaws but also the environment—the very institutions intended to cleanse and heal seem somewhat suspect, if not absurd. It’s all beautifully rendered in subtle grey tones; I'm charmed how simple lines speak to social reality. Editor: And that title! So verbose yet perfectly capturing the childish fear—the lurking crayfish representing irrational anxieties, social anxieties about body image... even deeper existential fears disguised as lighthearted complaint. Curator: It certainly invites a multi-layered interpretation. He managed to encapsulate a wide range of societal neuroses with incredible efficiency. Perhaps his lithographs serve as enduring reminders that beneath the surface of societal normalcy, we're all grappling with anxieties, however absurd. Editor: Agreed. There's a timelessness to the work, even. These insecurities and absurdities still resonate, reminding us that some aspects of human nature remain hilariously, or perhaps disturbingly, constant. The title does make it for me. Curator: Well, that’s Daumier for you! Finding the poignant in the absurd. An important, and amusing artist. Editor: Indeed. It's amazing what a few lines and some imagined crayfish can convey.