Two figures who hold a paper and open their mouths, as if singing from music.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

Figures are painted so that they look like sculptural forms with vague features rather than realistic people. The taller figure wears a black brimmed hat and stands slightly behind the other figure, who has hair tied behind their neck and holds a paper, which both look at, the taller figure craning their neck to see it. The taller figure wears a large black garment, and the shorter figure wears black clothing at their waist, but if they wear a shirt it is blended into their neck so that it seems that their upper body is blank and uncovered.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1957.205
People
Honoré-Victorin Daumier, French (Marseille, France 1808-1879 Valmondois, France)
Title
Two Singers
Other Titles
Alternate Title: The Singing Couple / Le Couple Chantant
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
c. 1850-c. 1860
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/219602

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
55.9 x 45.7 cm (22 x 18 in.)
framed: 84.5 x 74.3 x 10.2 cm (33 1/4 x 29 1/4 x 4 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: l.r.: h. D.

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Galerie Miethke, Vienna. Adolphe Kohner, Budapest (by 1910 - at least 1931). Mrs. Anthony F. Lucas(nee Catherine Baroness Kohner) , Montreal, Canada. Mr. & Mrs. Joseph H. Hazen, New York, gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1957.


Notes:

Painting was lent to 1931 Rosenberg and Co. exhibition by Baron Kohner.

According to Thannhauser gallery records, Mrs. Lukas consigned the painting to them and they returned it, unsold, to her. Mrs. Lucas was once Catherine Baronness Konner (sic) de Szaszberek.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Hazen
Accession Year
1957
Object Number
1957.205
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Erich Klossowski, Honoré Daumier, R. Piper (Munich, Germany, 1908), p. 293 and pl. 123
  • Cicerone, [Unidentified Daumier monograph] (1911), p. 581
  • Fuchs, Der Maler Daumier, Albert Langer Verlag (Munich, Germany, 1930), p. 47, no. 33
  • Grands Maitres du XIXe Siecle, exh. cat., Paul Rosenberg and Co. (Paris, France, 1931), no. 21
  • Charles Sterling, ed., Daumier : peintures, aquarelles, dessins, exh. cat., Musée de l'Orangerie (Paris, France, 1934), p. 48, no. 10
  • Daumier: Paintings and Drawings, exh. cat., Arts Council of Great Britain, London (London, England, 1961), under no. 47
  • The Arts of Man, exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Dallas, TX, 1962), repr. p. 51, no. 60
  • Highlights from the Collections of the Fogg Museum and Harvard Alumni of St. Louis, exh. cat., City Art Museum of St. Louis (St. Louis, 1964), cat. 26
  • Romantics and Realists, exh. cat., Wildenstein & Company (New York, NY, 1966), repr. in b/w no. 35
  • Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, exh. cat., Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, 1967)
  • Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings from the Fogg Art Museum, exh. cat., Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, NY, 1967), cat. 26
  • Karl E. Maison, Honoré Daumier: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings, New York Graphic Society, Ltd (New York, NY, 1968), vol. I, p. 198, no. II-29, plate 191, repr.
  • Edgar Peters Bowron, European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum: A Summary Catalogue including Paintings in the Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1990), p. 104; repr. as no. 309
  • Judit Geskó and Péter Molnos, "Histoire des collections d'oeuvres impressionnistes françaises en Hongrie", Monet et ses Amis (Budapest, 2003), pp. 23 (visible in photo), 25
  • "Education and Programs", Harvard University Art Museums Annual Report (2005), pp. 42-52, p. 47, repr. in b/w
  • Judit Geskó and Péter Molnos, "Vincent van Gogh's Works in Hungary", Van Gogh in Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest (Budapest, 2006), ill. p. 144, on reproduced on catalogue cover illustrated

Exhibition History

  • Exposition d'oeuvres importantes de grands maîtres du dix-neuvième siècle Prêtées au profit de la Cité Universitaire de l'Université de Paris, Galerie Paul Rosenberg, Paris, 05/18/1931 - 06/27/1931
  • Daumier, Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, 01/01/1934 - 12/31/1934
  • The Arts of Man, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, 10/06/1962 - 12/31/1962
  • Highlights from the Collection of the Fogg Art Museum and Harvard Alumni of St. Louis, City Art Museum of St. Louis, St. Louis, 01/30/1964 - 03/01/1964
  • Romantics and Realists, Wildenstein Gallery, New York, New York, 04/07/1966 - 05/07/1966
  • Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings from the Fogg Art Museum, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 05/08/1967 - 06/11/1967
  • Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture from the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 10/12/1967 - 12/03/1967

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu