Venant de donner le dernier coup de pinceau ... c. 19th century

Curator: This is Honoré Daumier's lithograph, "Venant de donner le dernier coup de pinceau…" from the 19th century. A wonderfully acerbic print. Editor: It certainly is striking. There's a manic energy in the artist’s pose, isn't there? And such chaotic layering of canvases! Curator: Absolutely. The image lampoons the art world of his time. It depicts a painter striking a theatrical pose, having just put the finishing touch on a painting that he believes will inevitably be "the most beautiful ornament of the Crystal Palace." Editor: It is such an interesting material commentary, looking at how printmaking allowed for such dissemination. It suggests that even the concept of artistic "genius" was already becoming commodified and packaged. Curator: Daumier consistently critiqued the bourgeoisie. His prints were potent tools for social commentary, widely distributed in newspapers and journals. Editor: Consider the rapid growth of printmaking, and how the means of reproducing images changed artistic labor and consumption! What this enabled for artistic discourse is simply radical. Curator: Precisely. Think of his audience encountering this image amidst their daily news, a sharp poke at artistic pretension. It questions the very nature of value and how reputations were manufactured. Editor: And there is, truly, so much value in its means of production. The relatively low cost of a lithograph democratized access to art—well, images of art at least!—making it available to the masses in a way that paintings never could be. This wasn't about individual brushstrokes so much as distributed ideas. Curator: Daumier adeptly utilizes caricature to amplify his message, turning pomposity into absurdity. Editor: And in its current archival state, it speaks to so much more. One is tempted to ask: Whose opinions truly dictate an artwork’s value, and by what methods is that assessment delivered and proliferated? Curator: I see Daumier’s genius lying in his capacity to harness printmaking—the materials at hand—to bring these dialogues to life. Editor: Indeed. Looking closer at Daumier's social critique reminds us that art is deeply embedded in its time. It compels you to think, decades on, about whose opinions count, and why.