Croquis pris aux Champs Elysées c. 19th century

Curator: Look at this piece by Honoré Daumier, called *Croquis pris aux Champs Elysées*, from sometime in the 19th century. He rendered it as a lithograph print. It seems, perhaps, sketched with pen, too? What strikes you first? Editor: Definitely the oddball figures perched in the trees like disgruntled birds. They have this quality, though; part playful, part grotesque—almost as if a gargoyle decided to take a holiday in the Champs-Élysées. Curator: Daumier was a master of social commentary. He created caricatures, a style known for exaggerating features. He took a very, um, satirical interest in the lives of Parisians, particularly focusing on the divide between the upper and lower classes. The title "Tenants and Owners" at the top points, rather ironically, to that socio-economic tension, I think. Editor: Exactly! The way those figures are clinging to those bare branches speaks volumes about precarity and social alienation. Are they escaping something? Are they trying to gain a new perspective? Or are they simply stuck, embodying the anxieties of a rapidly changing urban landscape? It reminds me of Walter Benjamin’s flâneur, observing from a distance, but with a distinctly Daumier twist. Curator: I get a sense of unease, definitely. These Champs Élysées sketches appear spontaneous, even raw, maybe like pages from a sketchbook, but there's sharp precision, too, you know? The lines are spare but incredibly expressive; he truly catches their essence! His unique style shows what’s seen by an outsider, maybe—or something from inside a nightmare, even! What else jumps out at you? Editor: The gnarled trees themselves become characters in this tableau. They could symbolize the rigidity of social structures or the complex, interwoven nature of Parisian society. And there's something about the sketchiness, as you said, the unfinished quality that makes it feel immediate, like a fleeting glimpse into a hidden world, one where landlords are predators and tenants are prey. Curator: Maybe he found a bit of dark humor in the social dynamics around him. His social and political awareness definitely shows up here! He takes aim and leaves us hanging on, like these folks. Editor: In viewing Daumier's sketch, it really hits that the anxieties around property, class, and belonging remain deeply resonant, like phantom limbs of past struggles, urging us to resist any return to such a dehumanizing existence.