Work by the original bad boys of political satire goes on view August  
1 at Stanford University's Cantor Arts Center.

As press coverage of the 2012 American presidential election heats up,  
this exhibition explores the art that ignited a 19th-century battle  
over politics and freedom of the press. The weekly Paris journal La  
Caricature, founded in 1830 shortly after Louis-Philippe I (1773–1850)  
took the French throne, quickly became the King’s worst enemy in his  
fight for popular approval. It published hundreds of lithographs by  
Honoré Daumier (1808–1879) and other artists that thoroughly ridiculed  
the July Monarchy, as Louis-Philippe’s reign was known. See how, in  
the approximately 50 prints on view, La Caricature used social satire,  
visual puns, and physical caricature to mock the July Monarchy’s  
ministers, their censorship of the press, and the King’s physical  
appearance.




“When Artists Attack the King: Honoré Daumier and La Caricature, 1830– 
1835”
August 1–November 11, 2012

Stanford, Calif. — Long before Iranian cartoonist Mahmoud Shokraiyeh  
was sentenced to 25 lashings for drawing a parliament member in a  
soccer jersey, 19th-century caricaturist Honoré Daumier and his  
colleagues at the weekly Paris journal La Caricature endured prison  
sentences, fines, and litigation for their scathing portraits of king  
Louis-Philippe I of France, who came to power after the Revolution of  
1830. The Cantor Arts Center presents 50 of these pioneering satirical  
works in “When Artists Attack the King: Honoré Daumier and La  
Caricature, 1830–1835,” which opens August 1.

The exhibition, drawn entirely from the collection of the Cantor Arts  
Center, also features issues of La Caricature and large Daumier  
lithographs published for L’Association Mensuelle, a monthly print  
subscription associated with La Caricature.

The show’s most provocative prints represent the king as la poire, a  
bulbous pear. But the artists mercilessly lampooned everything about  
the July Monarchy, as Louis-Philippe’s reign was known—its ministers,  
their censorship of the press, their role in the inequalities of  
French society. The tone in the presented works ranges from mocking to  
outraged: from depictions of government officials as marionettes to  
the gruesome aftermath of government troops shooting an entire working- 
class family after a riot.

“Daumier and the other artists at La Caricature were incredible  
draftsmen, and they all possessed a gift for using wicked humor to cut  
to the heart of controversial issues,” says Elizabeth Kathleen  
Mitchell, the Cantor’s Burton and Deedee McMurtry Curator of Prints,  
Drawings, and Photographs. Daumier especially has been posthumously  
recognized for his wit and technical skill, which he demonstrated in  
his more than 4,000 lithographs as well as his sculptures and the  
paintings he produced later in life before going blind.

“When Artists Attack the King: Honoré Daumier and La Caricature, 1830– 
1835” is made possible through the support of the Halperin Exhibitions  
Fund.
The Cantor Arts Center is open Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.,  
Thursday until 8 p.m. Admission is free. The Cantor is located on the  
Stanford campus, off Palm Drive at Museum Way. Parking is free after 4  
p.m. weekdays and all day on weekends. Information: 650-723-4177,  
museum.stanford.edu.
# # #

PUBLICITY IMAGES are available at http://www.stanford.edu/dept/suma/news_room/documents/photos/Daumier_photos/

 ONLINE at http://museum.stanford.edu/news_room/daumier.html


VISITOR INFORMATION
Free admission. Open Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., Thursday until  
8 p.m.
Parking is free after 4 p.m. weekdays and all day on weekends.
Public information: 650-723-4177, http://museum.stanford.edu,
Visitor Information: http://museum.stanford.edu/visit/plan_a_visit.html

Let me know if you would like the exhibition checklist or additional  
information.

Thank you for your time and attention.
anna

Anna Koster
Head of Communications
Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University
Lomita Dr. at Museum Way
Stanford, CA 94305-5060
650-725-4657   Fax 650-725-0464
Public info line 650-723-4177
akoster@stanford.edu
http://museum.stanford.edu