Honoré Daumier
The Grand Staircase of the Palace of Justice
1858-1868
Physical Qualities
Charcoal, black conté crayon, transparent and opaque watercolor, pen and black ink, and brush and black wash on paper, Sheet: 359 x 267 mm. (14 1/8 x 10 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
The George A. Lucas Collection, purchased with Funds from the State of Maryland, Funds from Laurence and Stella Bendann, Nelson and Juanita Greif Gutman Collection, and Contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations throughout the Baltimore community
Object Number
1996.48.18685
An attorney prances down the grand staircase of the Palais de Justice with fluttering gown. His snobbish expression, coiffed hair, and pompous demeanor suggest the great esteem in which he holds himself. Rendered in charcoal, crayon, and watercolor, this drawing is one of Honoré Daumier’s masterpieces. Exhibited to great acclaim at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1884, it reveals the artist’s superlative skills at observing the folly of human nature.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 1996; The Maryland Institute College of Art,
through Henry Walters, Baltimore, by bequest 1909; from George A. Lucas, Paris
through Henry Walters, Baltimore, by bequest 1909; from George A. Lucas, Paris
Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 'Dessins de l'école moderne', Feb. 1884, no. 119.
Loys Delteil, Galerie L. et P. Rosenberg fils, Paris, 'Exposition des dessins, aquarelles et lithographies de H. Daumier', April 15-May 6, 1907, no. 9, ill. as frontispiece.
Maryland Institute, Baltimore, 'Exhibition of Paintings, Bronzes and Porcelains from the George A. Lucas Collection', 1911, p. 21, no. 79.
Baltimore Museum of Art, 'French Drawings', May 1934.
Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 'Daumier 1808-1879', 1937, no. 40. Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, 'Master Drawings', Jan. 1935, no. 102.
Baltimore Museum of Art, 'A Century of Baltimore Collecting', June 6-Sept. 1, 1941, p. 113.
Baltimore Museum of Art, 'From Ingres to Gauguin', Nov.-Dec. 1951, p. 27, no. 70.
Mr. Porter A. McCray, Committee for the Exhibition of French Drawings from American Collections, New York, NY, Boymans Museum, Rotterdam, Aug. 2 - Sept. 28, 1958; circulated to Orangerie, Paris, Oct. 2, 1958 - Jan. 2, 1959; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, Feb. 2 - Mar. 15, 1959.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 'French Drawings from American Collections: Clouet to Matisse', Feb. 3-March 15, 1959, p. 80, no. 105, plate 126 (plate 138 in French edition), (circulated to l'Orangérie, Paris; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam).
Milwaukee Art Center, Milwaukee, WI, "At Work - Daumier to Shahn," Oct. 20 - Dec. 6, 1960.
Tate Gallery, London, 'Daumier: Paintings and Drawings', June 14-July 30, 1961, no. 202, plate 30a.
The Arts Council of Great Britain, Tate Gallery, London, "Daumier," June 15 - July 31, 1961.
Lorenz Eitner, University of Minnesota Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 'The Nineteenth Century: One Hundred Master Drawings', March 26-April 23, 1962, no. 24; circulated to Guggenheim Museum, New York, May 10-June 30, 1962.
Wildenstein and Company, New York, NY, "Romantics and Realists," Apr. 7 - May 7, 1966.
Wildenstein, New York, 'Romantics and Realists', April 7-May 7, 1966, no. 41. Baltimore Museum of Art, 'The George A. Lucas Collection', Oct. 12-Nov. 21, 1965, p. 66, no. 325.
Shepherd Gallery, New York, NY, "Ingres and Delacroix through Degas and Puvis de Chavannes - The Figure in French Art, 1800 to 1870," May 7 - June 28, 1975.
Shepherd Gallery, New York, 'Ingres and Delacroix through Degas and Puvis de Chavannes: The Figure in French Art, 1800-1870', May-June 1975, p. 137, no. 57, ill. p. 138.
Victor Carlson and Carol Hynning Smith, BMA, "Master Drawings and Watercolors of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries"; circulated by the American Federation of Arts to the Guggenheim Museum, NY, 24 August - 7 October 1979; Des Moines Art Center, 19 November 1979 - 6 January 1980; Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, 8 February - 16 March, 1980; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1 May - 22 June 1980 ; Denver Art Museum, 12 July - 24 August, 1980.
BMA, "Master Drawings and Watercolors of the 19th and 20th Centuries from the Museum Collection," 14 October - 28 November, 1982.
Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Master Drawings by French Artists in the Museum's Collection', May 14-July 23, 1989.
Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Daumier and the Art of Caricature', Nov. 7, 1989-Jan. 14, 1990.
Colta Ives, Margret Stuffman and Martin Sonnabend, Städtische Galerie,
Frankfurt and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 'Honoré Daumier Zeichnungen', Nov. 17, 1992-May 2, 1993, p. 187, no. 88, ill. p. 189.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "A Continuing Example: Prints and Drawings from the George A. Lucas Collection," 4 February - 9 April, 1995.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "Parallels and Precedents: The George A. Lucas Collection in Context," 23 August - 15 October, 1995.
Henri Loyrette, et al, Musée des Beaux-Arts du Canada, Ottawa, "Daumier 1808-1879," June 11-Sept. 6, 1999, p. 442, no. 284, ill. p. 442 (circulated to Musée d'Orsay, Paris, Oct 5, 1999-Jan. 3, 2000).
Loys Delteil, Galerie L. et P. Rosenberg fils, Paris, 'Exposition des dessins, aquarelles et lithographies de H. Daumier', April 15-May 6, 1907, no. 9, ill. as frontispiece.
Maryland Institute, Baltimore, 'Exhibition of Paintings, Bronzes and Porcelains from the George A. Lucas Collection', 1911, p. 21, no. 79.
Baltimore Museum of Art, 'French Drawings', May 1934.
Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 'Daumier 1808-1879', 1937, no. 40. Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, 'Master Drawings', Jan. 1935, no. 102.
Baltimore Museum of Art, 'A Century of Baltimore Collecting', June 6-Sept. 1, 1941, p. 113.
Baltimore Museum of Art, 'From Ingres to Gauguin', Nov.-Dec. 1951, p. 27, no. 70.
Mr. Porter A. McCray, Committee for the Exhibition of French Drawings from American Collections, New York, NY, Boymans Museum, Rotterdam, Aug. 2 - Sept. 28, 1958; circulated to Orangerie, Paris, Oct. 2, 1958 - Jan. 2, 1959; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, Feb. 2 - Mar. 15, 1959.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 'French Drawings from American Collections: Clouet to Matisse', Feb. 3-March 15, 1959, p. 80, no. 105, plate 126 (plate 138 in French edition), (circulated to l'Orangérie, Paris; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam).
Milwaukee Art Center, Milwaukee, WI, "At Work - Daumier to Shahn," Oct. 20 - Dec. 6, 1960.
Tate Gallery, London, 'Daumier: Paintings and Drawings', June 14-July 30, 1961, no. 202, plate 30a.
The Arts Council of Great Britain, Tate Gallery, London, "Daumier," June 15 - July 31, 1961.
Lorenz Eitner, University of Minnesota Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 'The Nineteenth Century: One Hundred Master Drawings', March 26-April 23, 1962, no. 24; circulated to Guggenheim Museum, New York, May 10-June 30, 1962.
Wildenstein and Company, New York, NY, "Romantics and Realists," Apr. 7 - May 7, 1966.
Wildenstein, New York, 'Romantics and Realists', April 7-May 7, 1966, no. 41. Baltimore Museum of Art, 'The George A. Lucas Collection', Oct. 12-Nov. 21, 1965, p. 66, no. 325.
Shepherd Gallery, New York, NY, "Ingres and Delacroix through Degas and Puvis de Chavannes - The Figure in French Art, 1800 to 1870," May 7 - June 28, 1975.
Shepherd Gallery, New York, 'Ingres and Delacroix through Degas and Puvis de Chavannes: The Figure in French Art, 1800-1870', May-June 1975, p. 137, no. 57, ill. p. 138.
Victor Carlson and Carol Hynning Smith, BMA, "Master Drawings and Watercolors of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries"; circulated by the American Federation of Arts to the Guggenheim Museum, NY, 24 August - 7 October 1979; Des Moines Art Center, 19 November 1979 - 6 January 1980; Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, 8 February - 16 March, 1980; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1 May - 22 June 1980 ; Denver Art Museum, 12 July - 24 August, 1980.
BMA, "Master Drawings and Watercolors of the 19th and 20th Centuries from the Museum Collection," 14 October - 28 November, 1982.
Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Master Drawings by French Artists in the Museum's Collection', May 14-July 23, 1989.
Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Daumier and the Art of Caricature', Nov. 7, 1989-Jan. 14, 1990.
Colta Ives, Margret Stuffman and Martin Sonnabend, Städtische Galerie,
Frankfurt and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 'Honoré Daumier Zeichnungen', Nov. 17, 1992-May 2, 1993, p. 187, no. 88, ill. p. 189.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "A Continuing Example: Prints and Drawings from the George A. Lucas Collection," 4 February - 9 April, 1995.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "Parallels and Precedents: The George A. Lucas Collection in Context," 23 August - 15 October, 1995.
Henri Loyrette, et al, Musée des Beaux-Arts du Canada, Ottawa, "Daumier 1808-1879," June 11-Sept. 6, 1999, p. 442, no. 284, ill. p. 442 (circulated to Musée d'Orsay, Paris, Oct 5, 1999-Jan. 3, 2000).
"The Baltimore Museum of Art: Celebrating a Museum," The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2014, p. 226.
Christopher Lloyd, Impressionism: Pastels, Watercolors, Drawings, Milwaukee, WI: Milwaukee Art Museum, 2011, p. 28, fig. 6.
Fisher, Jay McKean, et al. The Essence of Line: French drawings from Ingres to Degas. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2005, p. 172-73, ill.
"BMA Today," January - February 2004, p. 9, ill.
Bruce Laughton, Honoré Daumier, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996, p. 98-99, fig. no. 123, ill. p. 99.
Enid Saunders Candlin, 'The Frenchman with the Satiric Pen', The Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 1, 1993, p. 16.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Calendar, 25:5 (March-April 1993), cover and p. 3.
'Honoré Daumier: El caricaturista de la burguesia', Saber Ver 36 (September/October 1997), p. 15, ill. p. 14.
Sarah Symmons, Daumier, London: Oresko Books, 1979, p. 47, plate 23.
George Boas, 'The Aesthetics of French Romantic Painting', The Baltimore Museum of Art Annual IV: Studies in Honor of Gertrude Rosenthal, Part Two, 1972, p. 54, fig. 1.
Robert Rey, Honoré Daumier, New York, 1966, p. 32, fig. 40.
Michel Laclotte, The Book of Art, V, New York, 1965, p. 39.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Miniatures: Daumier, Series MW, New York: 1955.
A Picture Book: 200 Objects in the Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore: 1955, ill. p. 50.
Eduard Fuchs, Der Maler Daumier (2nd edition), Munich: 1930, p. 183, no. 183.
Erich Klossowski, Honoré Daumier (2nd edition), Munich: 1923, no. 127.
Roger Ballu, Les dessins du siècle, Paris: 1884, n.p.
Inscribed: lower left in black ink: "h. Daumier"
Markings: WM: Crowned shield with 'H.P.' (Hallines)
