Promenade du Boeuf gras 1839

Honoré Daumier made this lithograph print, "Promenade du Boeuf gras." Lithography is a printmaking process using a flat stone or metal plate. The artist draws on the surface with a greasy medium, then treats it so that ink adheres only to the drawn areas, allowing the image to be printed. Daumier was a master of lithography, using its capacity for detail and shading to create social commentary. The image is a street scene, teeming with people in costumes celebrating the "Boeuf Gras," a traditional pre-Lenten carnival procession. The layers of lithography capture the textures of the parade, the energy of the crowd, and the caricatured expressions of the figures. Daumier's choice of lithography was deliberate; it allowed for mass production and distribution of his satirical images in newspapers, reaching a broad audience. His skilled use of the medium, combined with his keen observations of Parisian society, makes this print not just a work of art, but a powerful piece of social critique.