Albertina Museum in Vienna mounts major Honoré Daumier retrospective

The Albertina Museum in Vienna is presenting 'Honoré Daumier – Mirror of Society', a comprehensive retrospective dedicated to the French satirist Honoré Daumier (Marseille, 1808 – Valmondois, 1879). The exhibition features lithographs, drawings, paintings, and sculptures, with significant loans from the Städel Museum in Frankfurt. Daumier, known for his sharp wit and social commentary, critiqued political power and injustice through his art. The show highlights his mastery of lithography, his depictions of everyday life—including street performers, chess players, and laundresses—and his political satire targeting figures like King Louis Philippe and Napoleon III. Daumier was imprisoned for six months in 1832 for a caricature of Louis Philippe as Gargantua. The exhibition also contextualizes his work within 19th-century French history, from the fall of the First Republic to the rise of Napoleon III. A previous Daumier exhibition at the Albertina in 1936 carried political significance against Nazi Germany. The current show underscores the enduring relevance of satire in democracy. It runs until May 25.