Inventory at a Widower's Home 1841

Editor: This is Honoré Daumier's "Inventory at a Widower's Home," and its date is unknown. It looks like a lithograph. The stark contrast between light and shadow is striking. What's your take on it? Curator: For me, it's about the printing process. The labor of the artist creating the lithograph, the materials used – the stone, the ink – and the societal context of printmaking as a means of mass communication. Consider how this image would have been consumed and circulated. What does that tell us about its purpose? Editor: I didn't think about it that way. The labor is literally in the lines. Thanks! Curator: Exactly! Art is material, and that matters.