Honoré Daumier - Un Repas D’Hippophages - Lithograph - 1856

Un Repas D’hippophaes is the title of this b/w lithographed plate, realized by Honoré Daumier (France, 1808-1879), that appeared on February 20th, 1856 in the French periodical, Le Charivari. Published by the Maison Martinet, Paris and lithographed by Destouches. Reference: H. Delteil, Catalogue Raisonnée, 2776. This is a very rare and precious specimen, Second State/III, before the changes in the letter. Provenance: Ex. Coll. G. Cognac Inscriptions: Monogrammed on stone, h.D, 883. Complete Caption: Savans cherchant à persuader les uns auxautres que la viande de cheval est l’aliment tout à la fois le plus substantiel et le plus délicat que l’homme puisse déguster. Excellent condition, with imperceptible aging signs. On the back, two stamps “H.M.P” and “GC” of the previous collection. Background: The Veterinary Institute at Alfort, a suburb of Paris, supported the thesis of the consumption of horsemeat. The horsemeat was served at the official receptions organized for this reason. During the Fifties of XIX century, fashionable restaurants between Toulouse and the French capital, served the horsemeat as a delicacy. After the demonstration of this scientific thesis and after this new fine “palate training”, butcheries specialized in horsemeat opened up in France. Les hippophaes was the satirical series, composed of 10 plates of caricatures “de mœurs” (of behaviours), realized by Honoré Daumier (France, 1808-1879) and published by the Maison Martinet, on Le Charivari between 1856-58. Honoré-Victorin Daumier (Marseille,1808 – Valmondois, 1879) The French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, through his artworks, Honoré Daumier, offers us commentary on the social and political life in France, from the Revolution of 1830 to the fall of the second Napoleonic Empire in 1870. Caricatures and cartoons of political figures, satirizing the behavior of his countrymen in newspapers and periodicals was his main activity, for which he became popular in his lifetime and is remembered and appreciate still today. He was a republican democrat whose targets were the bourgeoisie, the church, lawyers and the judiciary, politicians, and the monarchy. His talented and satiric pencil had a very high cost on his life: he was jailed for several months in 1832 after the publication of Gargantua because of a offensive depiction of King Louis-Philippe. Charles Baudelaire noticed the Daumier's production and greatly admired his paintings, which were to have an influence on a younger generation of impressionist and post-impressionist painters. Later generations have come to recognize Daumier as one of the great French artists of the 19th century. Daumier was prolific artist that produced more than 100 sculptures, 500 paintings, 1000 drawings, 1000 wood engravings, and 4000 lithographs.