Daumier, Honoré Victorin

French artist. His sharply dramatic and satirical cartoons dissected Parisian society. He produced over 4,000 lithographs and, mainly after 1860, powerful, sardonic oil paintings that were little appreciated in his lifetime.

Daumier drew for La Caricature, Charivari, and other periodicals. He created several fictitious stereotypes of contemporary figures and was once imprisoned for an attack on King Louis Philippe. His paintings show a fluent technique and a mainly monochrome palette. He also produced sculptures of his caricatures, such as the bronze statuette of Ratapoil (c. 1850; Louvre, Paris).