“-What a shame that I am not allowed go hunting,” plate 180 from Actualitiés 1867

Honoré Daumier created this lithograph as part of his “Actualités” series, using a greasy crayon on a stone matrix. It’s a print, of course, so part of its power comes from its reproducibility. Lithography was a relatively new medium in the 19th century, enabling artists to create multiple original images efficiently. Here, Daumier uses the soft, grainy texture to great effect, almost like charcoal. It's ideally suited to social satire, because it allowed Daumier to disseminate his commentary widely. The process isn't immediate. The image is drawn in reverse, chemically fixed, and then printed. This indirectness is part of the medium’s charm. It separates the artist's hand from the final image, and speaks to the rise of industrial production and mass media that Daumier was critiquing. The print reflects these wider social issues of labor, politics, and consumption. The image speaks volumes about the societal context of 19th-century France, blurring the boundaries between fine art and social commentary.