"- I wonder why this beast is following me all the time... I'll happily be paying 6 sous to jump on a bus," plate 1 from Émotions De Chasse 1854

Editor: Here we have a lithograph on paper by Honoré Daumier, dating back to 1854. It's titled "- I wonder why this beast is following me all the time... I'll happily be paying 6 sous to jump on a bus," and it appears to be part of his series *Émotions de Chasse*. I'm immediately struck by the almost frantic energy in the lines and the very relatable exasperation on the hunter's face. How do you interpret this work within the context of 19th-century France? Curator: This print really captures the zeitgeist of a rapidly changing Paris. Daumier, through his caricatures, consistently critiqued the bourgeoisie, their aspirations, and their anxieties. What do you notice about the hunter’s clothing and posture in relation to the pursuing dogs? Editor: He seems almost overdressed for the hunt, and the fact that one of the dogs is nipping at his heels really undermines his sense of authority. He looks far more bothered than triumphant. Curator: Exactly! Daumier is commenting on class pretension here. The hunter *wants* to be seen a certain way, participating in a leisure activity associated with the aristocracy. Yet, he is relentlessly pursued and disturbed by these "beasts", and it reveals the anxieties around class mobility at that time. Note the text in the lithograph – it is yearning to escape on a bus and the relatively small sum of 6 sous is meaningful in the history of France during the second empire, as citizens could start to buy their way out of the rigid social structures and gain greater freedoms and access to societal infrastructures like transportation.. Editor: That’s a great point about the democratization of transportation playing out in this image. It paints the image with a subtly progressive feel. So it's more than just a simple caricature; it's a commentary on social climbing and urban development. Curator: Precisely. It encourages us to question who benefits from societal changes. Hopefully, you leave viewing lithographs as less innocent!