This proves to us how perfectly useless it is to recite gracious compliments to the public in the final couplet of a play. 1857

Curator: Look at the faces in Honoré Daumier's work, tellingly titled "This proves to us how perfectly useless it is to recite gracious compliments to the public in the final couplet of a play." Editor: Immediately, I see a feeling of weary boredom. The scrawling lines seem to mirror the sentiment of the title, almost like a sigh escaping onto the page. Curator: Daumier, always the social critic, uses his lithographic skills to comment on the ritualistic and often insincere nature of public performance. Editor: I think that Daumier understood the theater. The foreground, with its jumble of figures, feels very real, like a snapshot of a restless audience, while the stage seems almost like a distant dream. Curator: This image really captures the tension between the performers and their audience, a relationship often built on artificial praise. Editor: It’s a clever visual commentary—Daumier’s saying so much with so little, and doing it with wit. Curator: Precisely, a sentiment still relevant today, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Sadly, yes, and Daumier's enduring gift is making us laugh—or maybe wince—at ourselves.