The Poster Man, plate 17 from Bohémiens de Paris 1842

This lithograph, called "The Poster Man," was created by Honoré Daumier in 19th-century France, using the relatively new printmaking technique of lithography. Lithography involves drawing on a flat stone with a greasy crayon, then treating the stone so that ink adheres only to the drawn areas. This method allowed for the quick and relatively inexpensive reproduction of images, making it ideal for satire. The dense network of marks speaks to the artist's hand, and also to the speed of production, which made social commentary like Daumier's available to a wide audience. Look closely, and you’ll see how Daumier uses line to create a sense of texture and form, describing the character’s clothing and the rough surface of the wall. The choice of lithography, with its capacity for mass production, aligns perfectly with the subject matter: an individual putting up posters, contributing to the visual landscape of a rapidly changing urban environment. Daumier elevates this everyday scene, and the labor involved, into a statement about the nature of modern life, questioning the distinctions between art and the world of work.