Jean Cailac
Private Collection, Paris
Sale: Nouveau Drouot, Paris, March 21, 1984, lot 22
Private Collection (acquired in April 1990)

Karl Eric Maison, Honoré Daumier: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, Watercolours and Drawings, vol. II, New York, 1968, no. 720, illustrated pl. 283
Honoré Daumier: Peintures, dessins, lithographes, sculptures (exhibition catalogue), Ingelheim-am-Rhein, Villa Schneider, 1971
Louis Provost, Honoré Daumier: A Thematic Guide to the Oeuvre, New York & London, 1989

Executed on cream-colored laid paper. Sheet is hinged to a mount at two points along the upper edge of the verso. The left edge of the sheet is deckled and there some scattered very small tears and losses along the extreme edges. There is also some minor staining. The artist's pinholes are visible at all four corners and at the center of the top edge of the sheet. There is a 1-inch soft crease across the extreme lower left corner and a 1-inch horizontal repaired tear just below the center of the right edge. There is a very faint 1 cm mat stain along the perimeter of the sheet. There are some studio stains on the verso and the sheet is inscribed indistinctly and numbered "43" on the verso. Overall the sheet is fresh and the line is quite strong. The work is in very good condition overall.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

An assiduous documentarian, Daumier had a "benign receptivity to all manifestations of human emotion which made him a sympathetic observer and an astute journalist," (Colta Ives, "Contemporary Genre: Urbanity and Domesticity", Daumier Drawings, New York, 1992, p. 120) and ensured that humorous, if fleeting, moments such as in Membres d'une Société d'Horticulture did not escape his gaze. Here the artist conveys the enthusiast's concern for the esoteric by deftly capturing precise emotional instants. The expressive line of Daumier's pen simultaneously delineates form, action and emotion as though the faces are contorting before our eyes, creating a dynamic satire. The woodcut which was produced from this drawing bore the caption: Wellingtonia...c'est possible; mais Gigantea, c'est trop fort. (Wellingtonia...maybe, but Gigantea, that's a bit too much!), though🐎 Daumier's achievement is such that the drawing can be understood immediately even without such context🦩.

Daumier's observations morph into exaggerated caricatures of larger-than-life personalities, yet still function as a mirror of sorts for the viewer, allowing us to make light of our own tendencies. As Colta Ives notes: "Underneath their top hats and bonnets, their waistcoats and crinolines, the faces, physiques, and postures that appear in Daumier's pictures could be those of any time or any place. They unite present and past, modern life and art's history, the specific and the general" (Colta Ives, "The Expressive Face, the Impressive Figure", Daumier Drawings, New York, 1992, p. 60).