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Mr. D'Argo (Comte D’Argout), Plate 292 from La Caricature, No. 140, July 11, 1833

Creator Honoré Daumier (French, 1808 - 1879)

Date1833

Mediumlithograph on wove paper

DimensionsImage: 28.2 x 18.7 cm (11 1/8 x 7 3/8 in.)
Overall: 35.4 x 26.6 cm (13 15/16 x 10 1/2 in.)

Credit LineGift of the Trier-Fodor Foundation, 1981

Category

Prints

Object number81/60

ProvenanceD’Argout (1782-1858), held many different political positions throughout his career. He was despised by caricaturists, because he was the lead censor during the July Monarchy (not surprisingly he is often portrayed with scissors). His nose was a feature that caricaturists ridiculed in images – a form of representation that was common throughout the history of caricature (Honoré de Balzac, the great French novelist, even wrote a column in La Caricature titled “A Day With the Nose of M. d’Argout”). He held the position of Minister of Fine Arts in the early 1830s; however, he was not the most competent man to occupy this role (to the dismay of French artists at the time, d’Argout was not even familiar with the name Rembrandt). When d’Argout left his position as the Minister of Fine Arts to take over the Banque de France, Le Charivari jokingly addressed an article to the King demanding if d’Argout’s nose could be returned to the government since members of the liberal press “missed it”. Daumier alone depicted d’Argout in a dozen lithographs.

LocationNot currently on display

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