HONORE DAUMIER - Lot 81

HONORE DAUMIER Rue Transnonain, April 15, 1834, plate 24 from the Association mensuelle de "La Caricature", lithograph, 33.5 x 48 cm, margins 36.5 x 55 cm (Delteil 135), very fine proof on Chine appliqué, the support slightly yellowed, unfolded, 4 cm tear in the right margin (not reaching the Chine), 4 cm tear in the lower right corner (slightly entering the Chine), small tears in the margins. Provenance: Edgar Degas; sale of his print collection, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, November 6 and 7, 1918, no. 69, illustrated; probably acquired by Maurice Le Garrec; P. G. collection; by descent, private collection. Bibliography: C. Yves, S. Stein, J. Steiner, The Private Collection of Edgar Degas, A Summary Catalog, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997, p. 22, no. 147. Rue Transnonain, April 15, 1834 is often considered Daumier's most important lithograph. It refers to the brutal murder by the National Guard of 19 women, children and elderly people at 12, rue Transnonain in Paris on April 14, 1834, during the suppression of the revolt of the "canuts", Lyon's silk weavers. Daumier's famous lithograph, with its artistic and historical significance, goes far beyond the strict framework of a news report. Daumier's composition shows, in a room similar to one of the three rooms where the inhabitants of the house gathered, four characters representative of the types of victims of the massacre: the man in the prime of life, the main target, but also the child, the woman and the old man. The scene's implacable realism is underscored by the harshness of the light and the power of the composition. Although the image was approved by the censors, the lithographic stone was confiscated by the government after publication. Proofs of this plate are quite rare, and are particularly valuable when printed on China paper and unfolded, as is the case here. A deep admirer of Daumier, Degas considered him to be one of the greatest of his time, and had built up an important collection of the artist's works.