Les Parisiens appreciant de plus en plus les avantages du macadam from Actualités
Creator
Honoré Daumier
(French, 1808 - 1879)
Datec. 1854
Mediumlithograph on paper
DimensionsImage: 20.1 x 24.2 cm (7 15/16 x 9 1/2 in.)
Overall (sheet): 24.7 x 34.8 cm (9 3/4 x 13 11/16 in.)
Overall (sheet): 24.7 x 34.8 cm (9 3/4 x 13 11/16 in.)
Credit LineGift of Robert Hunter, 1936
Object number2398
Category
ProvenanceThree figures are tiptoeing on their feet as they walk across a street. All three figures are struggling to maintain their balance and risk of falling on the ground. Although it is not clear from Daumier’s design, the street is meant to be a flat, paved surface. John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836) was a Scottish engineer and road-builder who invented the process of “macadamization” with the goal of having smoother roads. By using asphalt, McAdam began constructing streets that had a harder but smoother surface than dirt roads. This method of road building became increasingly popular in major European cities in the mid-nineteenth century. However, if the right ingredients were not mixed in with the asphalt, streets could become quite sandy because of the heat in summer and muddy in rainy weather. It is this aspect of “macadamization” that Daumier is alluding to in this print.
LocationNot currently on display
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Honoré Daumier
1859
Print
Honoré Daumier
c. 1851
Print
