Honoré Daumier

Daumier's political caricatures were published primarily in La Caricature and Le Charivari, two satirical journals run by Charles Philipon in 19th-century Paris. His scathing lithographs of King Louis-Philippe, depicted as a pear ('La Poire'), famously led to Daumier's imprisonment in 1832.

Daumier produced over 4,000 lithographs during his career, making him one of the most prolific printmakers in art history. His subjects ranged from political satire to everyday Parisian life, including his famous series 'Les Bas-Bleus' and 'Robert Macaire.'

Yes, in addition to his lithography and sculpture, Daumier was a painter whose works were admired by later artists like Degas and Van Gogh, though he received little recognition for painting during his lifetime. His paintings often depicted theatrical and everyday scenes with a loose, expressive style.

Daumier created a famous series of small clay busts called 'Celebrities of the Juste-Milieu,' caricaturing politicians of the July Monarchy, which were produced around 1832–1835 for Philipon's publishing house. These busts are now considered masterworks of satirical sculpture.

Daumier's works are held in major museums worldwide, including the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery in London, and the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. The Musée d'Orsay holds a particularly significant collection of his paintings and lithographs.

Despite his enormous output and influence, Daumier struggled financially throughout much of his life and died nearly blind and impoverished in 1879. His friend, the painter Camille Corot, reportedly gifted him a house in Valmondois to help him in his final years.

Daumier's satirical depictions of King Louis-Philippe, particularly the recurring image of the monarch's face as a pear, enraged the government and resulted in Daumier's six-month imprisonment in 1832. The 'pear' became a universal symbol of the king's regime among his critics.

Daumier is generally associated with Realism, alongside artists like Gustave Courbet, though his loose painting style and interest in light and movement also anticipated aspects of Impressionism. His focus on working-class subjects and social commentary aligned him most closely with the Realist movement.