Honoré Daumier’s Ratapoil — Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Heads or Facial Features

This is our entry in Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Heads or Facial Features.

Honoré-Victorin Daumier (1808 – 1879) is one of our favorite artists. When we are in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris or the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, we make sure to visit his caricatures of political figures.  On a recent visit to the National Gallery of Art, we focused on the statue of Ratapoil.  According to the National Gallery of Art’s webpage Ratapoil, 

… the swaying, strutting Ratapoil is Daumier’s brilliant stab at the political ambitions of Louis-Napoleon, who would proclaim himself emperor of France in 1852. … He fashioned Ratapoil (Ratskin) as one of Louis-Napoleon’s agents-provocateurs, a cudgel-carrying bully whose job was to stir up crowds, using bribes and force when necessary, to convince the people to return Louis-Napoleon to power.

Face of Ratapoil 

The original statue, only 44.13 cm (17.4 inches) tall, was cast in clay in 1850 – 51, but not cast in bronze until 1891 after Daumier’s death.

Ratapoil

These photos were taken on October 4, 2017 with a Canon 100D.