Honoré Daumier, February 26, 1808–February 10 or 11, 1879, was a French painter, sculptor, draftsman and lithographer born in Marseille. His family moved to Paris in 1816. He studied with Alexandre Lenoir and at the Académie Suisse, copied works in the Louvre and learned lithography while working with Zéphirin Belliard.

Daumier contributed political and social caricatures to Charles Philipon’s journals La Caricature and Le Charivari. His caricature of Louis-Philippe led to imprisonment in 1832. Alongside his printmaking, he made paintings, drawings and sculptures depicting lawyers, workers, performers and literary subjects, including Don Quixote. He maintained contacts with Eugène Delacroix, Jean-François Millet and Camille Corot.

Failing eyesight restricted Daumier’s work during the 1870s, when he lived at Valmondois. A major exhibition was held at Durand-Ruel in 1878, and he died at Valmondois the following year. His works are held by the Musée d’Orsay, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Rijksmuseum and other collections.