"They look like they're conspiring...I'm really upset that I got into this car! ...and to think there's no way of stopping the train!" 1864

Curator: Daumier’s lithograph depicts a scene “En Chemin de Fer,” or “On the Railway,” capturing a moment of bourgeois travel. Editor: The faces! That anxious man on the right looks trapped; the two men in the center feel sinister, almost vampiric. What’s the symbolism here? Curator: The lithographic process allowed for mass production, mirroring the rise of industrial travel and its effect on social classes. Daumier captures the uneasy mixing of these classes, emphasizing material culture. Editor: I see anxiety, the tension of unspoken interactions. The forward momentum, suggested by the train, perhaps embodies unstoppable change, symbolized by the iron horse. Curator: Absolutely, the materials used – the stone, the grease crayon – allowed Daumier to quickly respond to the changing social landscape. It's less about refinement and more about accessibility. Editor: And those faces become icons of social unease. The lithograph's composition adds to the unsettling atmosphere, freezing a moment of societal shift. Curator: Indeed, the print becomes a document of its time, reflecting production, consumption, and the experience of modernity. Editor: An image that makes me think about our own age of accelerated travel.