"The crow, having sung the summer away..." 1839

Editor: This is a lithograph by Honoré Daumier, called "The crow, having sung the summer away...". It looks like a satirical scene with a man about to strike a child. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The crow image pulls from Aesop's fable "The Ant and the Grasshopper." Notice the cruel figure about to hit the child; what does that gesture evoke for you? It feels like an assertion of rigid authority and a fear of idleness, a recurring theme in Daumier's social critiques, reflecting bourgeois anxieties of the time. Editor: So, it's about more than just a simple punishment? Curator: Exactly. The image becomes a commentary on societal values and the suppression of youthful exuberance. It's a potent symbol, and a cautionary tale for all ages. Editor: I never thought of it that way; it gives me a lot to consider.