The Fat Ox 1843

Curator: Here we see Honoré Daumier's "The Fat Ox," an undated lithograph now residing at the Harvard Art Museums. What strikes you initially? Editor: A sea of hats! And an almost comical sense of awe. The crowd seems dwarfed by the sheer mass of this beast. Curator: Exactly. Daumier, with his focus on social critique, likely uses the ox to comment on themes of excess, consumption, and perhaps even the bourgeoisie's fascination with spectacle. Look at the lines; they depict the ox as almost overflowing. Editor: There's a real energy in those lines. It feels almost sketched in the moment. You can sense the jostling crowd, the humid air of a livestock fair perhaps. For me, it evokes the almost carnivalesque absurdity of prioritizing material wealth. Curator: Absolutely. Daumier often employed lithography to reach a wider audience through newspapers, using accessible imagery to convey powerful messages about class and society. Editor: It's a clever choice of medium, really, using something reproducible and 'everyday' to poke fun at the very people who might be consuming it. It gives the whole thing a satisfying bite. Curator: Well, it offers plenty to chew on. Editor: Indeed, a visual feast…or maybe just a really big burger waiting to happen.