"Yet I can never relax when I see you go out like that..." 1847

Curator: Honoré Daumier, born in 1808, created this lithograph titled "Yet I can never relax when I see you go out like that..." and it now resides at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It's mostly black and white, very linear, and that looming figure on the left is overwhelming everything. Curator: It’s from a series called "Les Bons Bourgeois," offering social commentary, particularly on the anxieties within the bourgeoisie. Editor: The contrast is stark. The heavy figure is a dark mass, visually dominating the worried woman beside him. It's unsettling. Curator: Daumier used lithography as a way to produce caricatures that would appear in newspapers, this was during a period of censorship, so images had power. Editor: The shading does highlight his bulk and the fragility of the woman. The meat hanging in the background gives off a sense of overindulgence. Curator: Indeed, it suggests the unease and perhaps the societal expectations placed upon women during that time. Editor: Thinking about the line work, it does amplify that feeling of stress and anxiety in the composition. Curator: Absolutely, the lines reinforce Daumier's critical view on bourgeois marital relationships. Editor: This image really captures the anxiety, very powerfully, thanks to the technique and form.