The Diamond Hypnotist. A new pastime at evening parties - or how to have fun and get someone to squint, without getting into trouble, plate 134 from Actualités 1859

Curator: So, here we have Honoré Daumier's 1859 lithograph, "The Diamond Hypnotist. A new pastime at evening parties - or how to have fun and get someone to squint, without getting into trouble," a title almost as long as the act itself! Editor: Immediately, I get this strange feeling, a mix of satire and, well, genuine discomfort. It's something in the forced nature of their interactions—very unbalanced, quite unnerving. Curator: Precisely! Daumier was a master of social commentary, skewering the pretensions and follies of Parisian society. Here, the "hypnotist," all wild hair and exaggerated features, seems to be more charlatan than healer, doesn't he? Editor: Absolutely. That diamond is key, isn’t it? Its artificial sparkle contrasts so sharply with the genuine vulnerability—almost a grotesque blankness—in the subject’s face. Is that an absence of genuine spirituality replaced with gaudy commercialism? Curator: It's potent satire, layering skepticism of pseudoscience onto established traditions and beliefs. But consider, the diamond also reflects light. Maybe Daumier hints at manipulation, projecting an image *onto* her. Editor: True. I see the cross-currents of status, control, the theatrical presentation of something "new," something modern, playing upon people's desires and fears. What an amazing record of its time, and strangely current even today. Curator: The line work really enhances that biting edge, doesn't it? He uses shadow and stark contrasts to sculpt both figures into embodiments of vanity and gullibility. And both caught in this weird, unspoken transaction. Editor: The caricature itself feels like a kind of cultural snapshot, a preservation of a fleeting moment, solidified into symbol. I like the fact the "diamond" has lost a lot of its value these days but retains its symbol as fake spectacle, just like in Daumier's drawing. Curator: It is the type of observation and critique that still bites. Thank you.