DAUMIER, H. - Croquis Parisiens - " Je suis bien malheureux, si vous voulez me prêter un peu d'attention.... - Je veux bien vous prêter ça, mais il me serait impossible de vous prêter autre chose.

Second state (of 3), with text. From "Croquis Parisiens". Text below image :
"Je suis bien malheureux, si vous voulez me prêter un peu d'attention...."
- " Je veux bien vous prêter ça, mais il me serait impossible de vous prêter autre chose."
( - I am really not well off, if you would just be so kind to pay me a little attention. - I'll be happy to pay you that, but unfortunately I won't be able to pay you anything else.)

In 1855 Daumier started publishing his famous caricatures "Ces Bons Parisiens" (These good Parisians) a series consisting of 11 prints, of which 10 appeared between March 1855 and May 1858 in the Charivari and one in January 1860. A number of extremely rare albums appeared on white paper.

Known chiefly as a political and social satirist, Honoré DAUMIER (1808-1879) used the printmaking process of lithography, still relatively new at the time, to contribute cartoons and caricatures to French news weeklies.