Volume 11, Number 11 · December 19, 1968
Daumier's Human Comedy
By Francis Haskell
Honoré Daumier: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, Water Colors and Drawings
by K.E. Maison
New York Graphic Society, Vol. 1, 446; Vol. 2, 620; 1161 illustrations pp., $157.50 the set
'All that is relevant has in fact been said about Daumier,' writes Mr. Maison in the Preface to his splendidly impressive catalogue raisonné, and he backs up this assertion with an equally dogmatic pronouncement by Paul Valéry: 'On a tout dit sur Daumier—tout ce qui peut se dire.' Were this true it would leave the reviewer (and everyone else) distinctly embarrassed. In fact it is Mr. Maison's own labors which have invalidated these claims, and before struggling once again with a 'superfluous' appraisal, we must indicate what those labors have now revealed to us, for the more we study these handsome and bulky volumes the more apparent it becomes that much of what has been said about Daumier the painter has been based on drastically inaccurate information.
Review, 2691 words
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