Ne vous y frottez pas !! [Do not get on the wrong side of them!!] by Honoré Daumier

Lithograph, 315 x 435 mm (at the inner borderline). Delteil 133.

Very fine impression printed on wove paper. Normal central fold, slightly broken at the upper edge. A few small handling creases in the upper left part of the sheet and a few small tears repaired in a summary way on the edges. Sheet: 360 x 490 mm.

“A muscular printer, sculpturally drawn in the foreground, is waiting, ready for Louis-Philippe, who is surrounded by Jean-Charles Persil and Odilon Barrot (left background), while the fate of Charles X, rescued by foreign monarchs (right), foreshadows Louis-Philippe’s own fate if he opposes this popular figure of press freedom.” (Valérie Sueur-Hermel p. 66, our translation).

Ne vous y frottez pas !! was published for the Association mensuelle lithographique [Monthly Lithographic Association] in March 1834. This was a supplement to the magazine Charivari created by Charles Philippon in 1832, in order to ensure the survival of the magazine by offering large-size lithographs to subscribers. Daumier created five lithographs for the Association mensuelle, among which Rue Transnonain, le 15 avril 1834 and Le Ventre législatif. With Ne vous y frottez pas !!, these five lithographs were hailed as masterpieces as soon as they were published.

Reference: Valérie Sueur-Hermel: Daumier : l’écriture du lithographe, 2008.