A Criminal Case  1865

by Honoré Daumier

An astute observer of human nature and an often biting satirist, Honoré Daumier here masterfully employed watercolor to illustrate the foibles of the French judicial system. Poverty forced Daumier to begin work at an early age; he once took a job as a messenger for the city's law courts, where he was exposed to the complexities and inequities of the legal system. The stron...
Size: 
38.4 x 32.5 cm
Medium: 
Watercolor and gouache with pen and brown ink and black chalk
Credit: 
Courtesy of The Getty