Honoré Daumier

Honoré Daumier
(1808–1879)

Two Lawyers Conversing

Signed in pen and black ink at lower right, h. Daumier

Black chalk and gouache in white and gray with some pale pink, yellow, and brown watercolor
8 1/4 x 10 5/8 inches (209 x 270 mm)

Thaw Collection

1997.87
Item description: 

Pairs or groups of lawyers are the subject of many of Daumier's drawings. Frequently the figures are contrasting visual types, as in the present example. Here, a thickset man leans over to compare anecdotes or discuss strategy with a thin colleague. The artist was at the peak of his artistic power in the 1860s, the period to which this drawing undoubtedly dates.