Rue Transnonain - the People's Terrorist
THE P EOPL E’S TE RRORIST
DAUMIER’S RUE TRANSNONAIN
Jeremiah S. O’Leary ARTH-110-01
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Honore Daumier’s Rue Transnonain captures the politically charged artistic
movement that took royalty caricature to the mainstream. The French monarchy had recently enacted legislation that restricted workers’ union formation, thereby allowing unacceptable working conditions to continue to occur without repercussion. Highranking government officials also began slipping work contracts to friends and followers rather than the rightful qualified citizens. The French took to the streets with a series of riots, culminating in the event that Daumier turned into a lithograph that moved beyond caricature and turned public’s eyes on the horrors that the oppressed, and repressed silk workers of St. Martin experienced first hand. The attack took place on April 14, 1834 when the French National Guard, under the command of King Louis Philippe (October 6, 1773 - August 26, 1850), retaliated on civilian silk workers. Rue Transnonain, created in the same year of the attacks, added fuel to an already growing tension between France and the French working force. The violent acts of the French National Guard, while not highly supported or lauded by the public, still would be deemed as acceptable under today’s rules of engagement. The artist’s political agenda, and anti-government opinions, breached upon propaganda and highly influenced the print’s style in its attempt to escalate the protests themselves. Rue Transnonain, viewed
2
by many as a reaction to the patriotic sentiments of a Frenchman to his countrymen, may, assuming the French National Guard were well within their right to react, be equivalent to domestic terrorism.
!
The Rue Transnonain lithograph is housed in a
33.9cm x 46.5cm frame and portrays a dramatic interpretation of the carnage left in the wake of the French National Guard when they dispatched twelve citizens1 occupying a living quarters built for the
DAUMIER’S RUE TRANSNONAIN
Jeremiah S. O’Leary ARTH-110-01
!
Honore Daumier’s Rue Transnonain captures the politically charged artistic
movement that took royalty caricature to the mainstream. The French monarchy had recently enacted legislation that restricted workers’ union formation, thereby allowing unacceptable working conditions to continue to occur without repercussion. Highranking government officials also began slipping work contracts to friends and followers rather than the rightful qualified citizens. The French took to the streets with a series of riots, culminating in the event that Daumier turned into a lithograph that moved beyond caricature and turned public’s eyes on the horrors that the oppressed, and repressed silk workers of St. Martin experienced first hand. The attack took place on April 14, 1834 when the French National Guard, under the command of King Louis Philippe (October 6, 1773 - August 26, 1850), retaliated on civilian silk workers. Rue Transnonain, created in the same year of the attacks, added fuel to an already growing tension between France and the French working force. The violent acts of the French National Guard, while not highly supported or lauded by the public, still would be deemed as acceptable under today’s rules of engagement. The artist’s political agenda, and anti-government opinions, breached upon propaganda and highly influenced the print’s style in its attempt to escalate the protests themselves. Rue Transnonain, viewed
2
by many as a reaction to the patriotic sentiments of a Frenchman to his countrymen, may, assuming the French National Guard were well within their right to react, be equivalent to domestic terrorism.
!
The Rue Transnonain lithograph is housed in a
33.9cm x 46.5cm frame and portrays a dramatic interpretation of the carnage left in the wake of the French National Guard when they dispatched twelve citizens1 occupying a living quarters built for the