Honoré Daumier (1808–1879), Two Lawyers Conversing
, Black chalk and gouache in white and gray with some pale pink, yellow, and brown watercolor, Thaw Collection
, 1997.87
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.