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| Honoré Daumier Avant l'audience (Before the hearing) ca. 1860-65 watercolor Phillips Collection, Washington DC |
The man whose image is presented here
and who by the most penetrating art
affords us means of laughing at ourselves –
this man, dear reader, is a philosopher.
He mocks us – true, he is a satirist,
and yet the energy with which he paints
(or etches) Evil and its aftermath
demonstrates the beauty of his heart.
His mirth is the reverse of Melmoth's sneer
or the snickering of Mephistopheles,
licked by the lurid light of a Fury's torch
that burns them to a crisp but leaves us cold –
a glance at their glee shows it for what it is,
a painful caricature of gaiety;
while Daumier's spreads like sunlight, glad and free,
a sign of kindness, evidence of grace.
– from Les Fleurs du Mal (1857) by Charles Baudelaire, translated by Richard Howard (1982)
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| Eugène Delacroix Botzaris surprises the Turkish camp and falls fatally wounded ca. 1860-62 oil on canvas Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio |
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| Eugène Delacroix Shipwreck on the coast 1862 oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
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| Edgar Degas Portrait of Mlle. Fiocre in the ballet La Source ca. 1867-68 oil on canvas Brooklyn Museum |
Nov. 1883
To Ludovic Halévy
The little Chabot arrived both very surprised and very pleased at having been called to M. Meyers to renew her engagement. The Mlles. Salle and Sacré were called at the same time. – She was offered a sum that she says is very small. She was getting 2,200, they offer her 2,400. We must try and help her to get 2,600 or 2,800 for the first year. Moreover, Mr. Meyer offers her 2,700 for the next year, that is to say for 1885; and for 1886 3,000 francs. So it is an increase of 200 francs or 300 at most for which she is asking for this year and she says that she deserves it for all sorts of reasons; she was a pupil at 16 years, she was moved up after each examination etc. . . .
So try to get her:
1st. 2,700 francs or 2,800 francs for 1884;
2nd. 3,000 francs for 1885;
3rd. 3,500 francs for 1886
The contract she has to sign is for 3 years.
The petitioner is in a great hurry and quite simply wishes you to go to the Opera this evening. I am much afraid that you will have to go to the Rois en Exil or even to Simon Boccanegra where I am presenting myself this evening at no. 177 in the name of Mr. Verdi.
In a word, do what you think best, write to Mr. Vaucorbeil, for it would seem to be really urgent. Moreover you know how everything is done at the Opera.
Greetings,
Degas
The said demoiselle Chabot sends you her respects.
– from Degas Letters, edited by Marcel Guérin, translated by Marguerite Kay (Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1947)
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| Gustave Courbet Autumn Sea 1867 oil on canvas Ohara Museum of Art, Kurashiki, Japan |
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| Gustave Courbet Low tide at Trouville 1865 oil on canvas Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool |
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| Gustave Courbet Nude woman with a dog 1861-62 oil on canvas Musée d'Orsay, Paris |
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| Gustave Courbet The weir at the mill 1866 oil on canvas Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin |
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| Gustave Courbet Three young Englishwomen by a window 1865 oil on canvas Ny Carlsberg Glyptothek, Copenhagen |
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| Lars Hertervig Island Borgøya 1867 oil on canvas National Gallery of Norway, Oslo |
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| John La Farge Magnolia 1860 oil on panel Berkshire Museum, Massachusetts |
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| Alphonse Legros Cupid and Psyche before 1867 oil on canvas Tate Britain |
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| Adolph Menzel Choirstalls in Mainz Cathedral 1869 watercolor, gouache Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Camille Pissarro The Marne at Chennevières 1864 oil on canvas National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh |