The Ox-Elephant, a new and very promising breed. Unfortunately still beyond the financial possibilities of the average citizen.... price: 30'000 francs, plate 5 from L'exposition Des Animaux 1856

Editor: This is "The Ox-Elephant, a new and very promising breed" by Honoré Daumier, a lithograph from 1856. It looks like a political cartoon; the lines are so sharp and exaggerated. What's your read on this piece? Curator: Focusing on Daumier's lithographic process, consider the industrial context. The image wasn't a unique artwork, but one manufactured for mass consumption. The paper it's printed on, likely cheap and readily available, further democratizes the art object. It challenges this concept of high art. Editor: So, you are saying the medium IS the message? Curator: Exactly! The accessibility created through this mode of production comments directly on the caricature’s subject, this "Ox-Elephant." It highlights the absurdity of wealth and privilege, embodied by this hybrid creature which is priced beyond reach. What if Daumier chose oil paint for a single, high-priced piece? How would that alter our reading? Editor: That's a great point. Painting it would definitely have the opposite effect, putting it out of reach for most people! What do the human figures add? Curator: The figures, rendered with such cynical strokes, are integral to the commentary. They are consumers, looking at something purely for display. This brings to mind the process of consuming luxury goods in France during that era. The lithograph enables critique that questions production as a measure of the value and consumption of the final print as another layer of production and material consumption. Editor: So, he is commenting on the whole economic system... it makes a lot of sense now! Curator: Indeed. And by mass-producing that critique, Daumier implicates himself and his audience within that system. What a clever means of production to critique cultural elitism. Editor: Thanks for putting the whole thing into context. I wouldn’t have considered the process and materials in relation to his statement.