Inconvénient de visiter sans précaution un entresol... 1847

Curator: What a fascinating commentary on the everyday! This is Honoré Daumier's lithograph, "Inconvénient de visiter sans précaution un entresol…" from 1847. Editor: Oh, my. The frantic energy jumps right out. He seems utterly horrified, like he’s stumbled upon something… unpleasant. Curator: Exactly! Daumier used lithography, a relatively new and accessible medium at the time, to produce satirical observations of Parisian life for mass consumption. Editor: It’s incredible the detail he achieves with just lines on stone. Look at the way he renders the texture of her shawl versus his overly large, rumpled coat. You can almost feel the different fabrics. Were lithographs commonly printed in newspapers at that time? Curator: They were often included in newspapers and journals, making art more accessible to the growing middle class. Daumier used this accessibility to comment on the social dynamics and the absurdities of his time. Editor: The bare feet sticking out from beneath his coat – it speaks to a vulnerability, almost an embarrassment made funnier by the clear disparity between the man’s surprise, and her...indifference? I suppose prints democratized humor and the power to critique public figures. Curator: Precisely! It's a critical shift. And in terms of imagery, consider how the stark contrasts between the man’s dishevelment and the woman's calmness highlights class anxieties. She appears entirely unimpressed by his intrusion into her space. Editor: It’s such a loaded, complex image—rendered through the humble process of drawing on stone. What's amazing to me is how Daumier managed to elevate lithography to the level of social critique while grounding it in the realities of production. The piece itself became a statement. Curator: Absolutely, a statement printed and circulated widely. It brings to light important elements from Parisian social life in the late 1840s. Editor: It really does invite questions about access, about private vs. public spheres. Curator: A brilliant way of rendering, on a small lithographic plate, those societal issues that he was grappling with. Editor: Thanks to this print, it seems we can continue to grapple with those same questions.