Jean Vatout, Deputy 1832

This painted plaster sculpture of Jean Vatout, Deputy, was made by Honoré Daumier in 19th-century France. It is one of a series of portrait-charges, or caricatures, of French parliamentary members. Daumier worked as a printmaker for the satirical magazine Le Charivari, using lithography to lampoon the bourgeoisie and the political class. His sculptures, made in the round, share the same critical spirit. Note the exaggerated features: the stern brow, the fleshy cheeks, the pursed lips. Vatout’s pomposity is palpable. Daumier's work raises questions about the social function of art. Does art have a public role in holding power to account? Or is it simply a tool of the elite? Art historians seek answers in archives, newspapers, and political ephemera to reveal the complex relationship between art and society.