Musical Notes by Honore Daumier: Prints from the Collection of Egon and Belle Gartenberg

A painter, sculptor and printmaker, Honore Daumier (1808-1879) was one of the most prolific and important artists of 19th-century France. He played a leading role in shaping the new realism brought to the portrayal of everyday life, but he is now best-known for the thousands of caricatures he published in magazines and newspapers such as Le Charivari , a daily paper with satirical articles and a wide circulation. This text, which accompanied an exhibition of prints from the collection of Egon and Belle Gartenberg, focuses on Daumier’s vivid records of the musical life of Paris. Although not himself a musician, Daumier had a keen interest in the amateur practice of the art as well as in grand opera and the celebrated performers and composers of his day.