HONORE DAUMIER
1808-1879
55 A Criminal Case (Une cause
criminelle)
Pen, watercolor, gouache, and black chalk; H: 38.5 cm
(i5y 8 in.);W: 32.8cm(i2I3/i6in.)
89.GA.3 3 (SEE PLATE io)
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At bottom left corner,
signed H. Daumier in black ink.
PROVENANCE: Charles de Bériot, Paris; Mme Albert Es-
nault-Pelterie, Paris; Gustave Meunié, Paris; art market,
London.
EXHIBITIONS: Exposition des peintures et dessins de H. Dau-
mier, Galeries Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1878, no. 225 ; Expo-
sition internationale universelle, Grand Palais, Paris, 1900,
no. 847; Daumier: Peintures, aquarelles, dessins, Musée de
l'Orangerie, Paris, 1934, no. 136 (catalogue by C. Ster-
ling); Réhabilitation du sujet, Galerie A. Seligmann, Paris,
November-December 1934, no. 79; Daumier 1808-
1879, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1937, no. 35 (cata-
logue by E. Van Hook).
BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. F. H. Champfleury, "L'oeuvre de
Daumier," L'art 13 (1878), opp. p. 219; A. Alexandre,
Honoré Daumier: L'homme et l'oeuvre (Paris, 1888), p. 378;
R. Muther, The History of Modem Painting (London,
1896), vol. 2, p. 67; C. Roger-Marx, éd., Les maîtres du
dessin (Paris, 1901), vol. 2, pi. 47; L. Rouart, "Collection
de Madame Esnault-Pelterie, " Les arts 54 (June 1906),
pp. 12, 16; H. Marcel, Honoré Daumier (Paris, 1907), p.
109 ; R. Escholier, Daumier: Peintre et lithographe (Paris,
1923), p. 115; E. Klossowski, Honoré Daumier (Munich,
1923), p. loi, no. 172; C. Baudelaire, Les dessins de Dau-
mier, Ars graphica, vol. i (Paris, 1924), pi. 22; E. Fuchs,
Der Maler Daumier (Munich, 1927), p. 54, no. I99b; H.
Focillon, La peinture aux XIXe et XXe siècles (Paris, 1928),
p. 31; idem, "Honoré Daumier, " Gazette des Beaux-Arts,
ser. 6, 2 (1929), p. 92; C. Roger-Marx, "Le sujet dans la
peinture française," L'art et les artistes 29 (December
1934), pp. 92, 95; idem, Daumier (Paris, 1938), p. 32; R.
Escholier, "Daumier," L'art et les artistes 33 (November!938), pp. 50, 60-61; H. James, Daumier, Caricaturist
(Emmaus, Pa., 1954), pp. 34—36; J. le Foyer, Daumier au
Palais de Justice (Paris, 1958), pi. 59; K. E. Maison, Honoré
Daumier: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, Watercolours
and Drawings (London, 1968), vol. 2, pp. 224-25, no.
673-THIS CELEBRATED WATERCOLOR IS AMONG THE CLASSIC
examples of Daumier's depictions of judicial subjects.
The contrast between the self-assured lawyer and his
awkwardly posed, wild-eyed client is given further res-
onance by the monumental, rather empty space above
and behind them. The scene was well described by
Henry James (1954): "The criminal in the dock, the flat-
headed murderer, bending over to speak to his advocate,
who turns a whiskered, professional, anxious head to
caution and remind him, tells a large, terrible story and
awakes a recurrent shudder. We see the gray court-room,
we feel the personal suspense and the immensity of
justice."
This watercolor may have been one of the impres-
sive group seen by the Concourt brothers in March 1865 -^1
This would argue for a date of shortly before that mo-
ment. Equally insecure support is offered for a much ear-
lier date by the similarity in subject and composition be-
tween this watercolor and a lithograph of i840.^2 Given
the uncertain character of Daumier's chronological de-
velopment, no resolution of this question is currently
possible. Technically, this is among the most finished of
Daumier's watercolors, with rich application of
gouache, especially on the lawyer's robes and bundle of
books.1. E. andj. de Concourt, Journal: Mémoires de la vie littéraire
(Paris, 1935), vol. 2, p. 200.
2. L. Delteil, Le peintre-graveur illustré: Honoré Daumier (Paris,
1926), vol. 4, no. 1357.138 FRENCH SCHOOL • DAUMIER