Honoré Daumier
The Good Friends
c. 1864
Physical Qualities
Black conté crayon, charcoal, watercolor, pen and black ink, and brush and black wash, with scraping, on paper, Sheet: 236 × 304 mm. (9 5/16 × 11 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
The George A. Lucas Collection, purchased with funds from the State of Maryland, Laurence and Stella Bendann Fund, and contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations throughout the Baltimore community
Object Number
1996.48.18684
George Lucas collected hundreds of works by Honoré Daumier, including this undated drawing of two friends chatting over glasses of wine. An astute psychological observer who captured his subjects with quick, vigorous pen strokes, Daumier honed in on the men’s most salient features: the pained expression of the man on the left, and the sympathetic, questioning gaze of the man on the right.
Charles Baudelaire considered Daumier one of the greatest draftsmen of the day. He wrote, “His drawing is abundant and easy—it is sustained improvisation: and yet it never descends to the ‘chic.’. . .He evokes color, as he does thought—and that is the sign of higher art.”
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 1996; Maryland Institute College of Art,
through Henry Walters, Baltimore, by bequest 1909; from George A. Lucas, Paris
through Henry Walters, Baltimore, by bequest 1909; from George A. Lucas, Paris
Galerie L. et P. Rosenberg fils, Paris, "Exposition des dessins, aquarelles et lithographies de H. Daumier," 1907, no. 11.
The Maryland Institute, Baltimore, "Exhibition of Paintings, Bronzes and Porcelains from the Collection of George A. Lucas," 1911, p. 40, no. 187.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "French Drawings," May 1934.
Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, "Master Drawings," Jan. 1935, no. 101.
Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Philadelphia, "Daumier 1808-1879," 1937, no. 27.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Century of Baltimore Collecting, 1840-1940," June 6-Sept. 1, 1941, p. 113.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "From Ingres to Gauguin: French Nineteenth Century Paintings Owned in Maryland," Nov.-Dec. 1951, p. 28, no. 73, ill. p. 28.
Mr. Porter A. McCray, Committee for the Exhibition of French Drawings from American Collections, New York, NY, Boymans Museum, Rotterdam, Aug. 2 - Sept. 28, 1958; circulated to Orangerie, Paris, Oct. 2, 1958 - Jan. 2, 1959; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, Feb. 2 - Mar. 15, 1959.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, "French Drawings from American Collections: Clouet to Matisse," Feb. 3-March 15, 1959, p. 79-80, no. 104, plate 125; circulated to the Netherlands(?).
Tate Gallery, London, "Daumier: Paintings and Drawings," 1961, p. 50, no. 126.
The Newark Museum, Newark, "Nineteenth Century Master Drawings," Mar. 16 - Apr. 30, 1961.
The Arts Council of Great Britain, Tate Gallery, London, "Daumier," June 15 - July 31, 1961.
Dr. Charles Chethem, The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, "A Generation of Draughtsmen," April 22 - May 29, 1962.
The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, "A Generation of Draughtsmen," April 25-May 29, 1962, no 44, n.p.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The George A. Lucas Collection," Oct. 12-Nov. 21, 1965, p. 66, no. 326.
Jan Rie Kist, National Gallery of Art, Washington, "Honoré Daumier (1808-1879)," Sept. 23-Nov. 25, 1979, p. 79, no. 86.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., "Honoré Daumier Centenary," Sept. 23 - Dec. 2, 1979.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Master Drawings by French Artists in the Museum's Collection," May 14-July 23, 1989.
Sona Johnston, BMA, "Daumier and the Art of Caricature," Nov. 7, 1989-Jan. 14, 1990.
Colta Ives, Margret Stuffman and Martin Sonnabend, Städtische Galerie, Frankfort and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, "Honoré Daumier Zeichnungen," Nov. 17, 1992-May 2, 1993, p. 155, no. 63.
Henri Loyrette, et al, Musée des Beaux-Arts du Canada, Ottawa, and Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, "Daumier, 1808-1879," June 11, 1999-January 3, 2000, p. 465, no. 307.
The Maryland Institute, Baltimore, "Exhibition of Paintings, Bronzes and Porcelains from the Collection of George A. Lucas," 1911, p. 40, no. 187.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "French Drawings," May 1934.
Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, "Master Drawings," Jan. 1935, no. 101.
Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Philadelphia, "Daumier 1808-1879," 1937, no. 27.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Century of Baltimore Collecting, 1840-1940," June 6-Sept. 1, 1941, p. 113.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "From Ingres to Gauguin: French Nineteenth Century Paintings Owned in Maryland," Nov.-Dec. 1951, p. 28, no. 73, ill. p. 28.
Mr. Porter A. McCray, Committee for the Exhibition of French Drawings from American Collections, New York, NY, Boymans Museum, Rotterdam, Aug. 2 - Sept. 28, 1958; circulated to Orangerie, Paris, Oct. 2, 1958 - Jan. 2, 1959; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, Feb. 2 - Mar. 15, 1959.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, "French Drawings from American Collections: Clouet to Matisse," Feb. 3-March 15, 1959, p. 79-80, no. 104, plate 125; circulated to the Netherlands(?).
Tate Gallery, London, "Daumier: Paintings and Drawings," 1961, p. 50, no. 126.
The Newark Museum, Newark, "Nineteenth Century Master Drawings," Mar. 16 - Apr. 30, 1961.
The Arts Council of Great Britain, Tate Gallery, London, "Daumier," June 15 - July 31, 1961.
Dr. Charles Chethem, The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, "A Generation of Draughtsmen," April 22 - May 29, 1962.
The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, "A Generation of Draughtsmen," April 25-May 29, 1962, no 44, n.p.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The George A. Lucas Collection," Oct. 12-Nov. 21, 1965, p. 66, no. 326.
Jan Rie Kist, National Gallery of Art, Washington, "Honoré Daumier (1808-1879)," Sept. 23-Nov. 25, 1979, p. 79, no. 86.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., "Honoré Daumier Centenary," Sept. 23 - Dec. 2, 1979.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Master Drawings by French Artists in the Museum's Collection," May 14-July 23, 1989.
Sona Johnston, BMA, "Daumier and the Art of Caricature," Nov. 7, 1989-Jan. 14, 1990.
Colta Ives, Margret Stuffman and Martin Sonnabend, Städtische Galerie, Frankfort and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, "Honoré Daumier Zeichnungen," Nov. 17, 1992-May 2, 1993, p. 155, no. 63.
Henri Loyrette, et al, Musée des Beaux-Arts du Canada, Ottawa, and Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, "Daumier, 1808-1879," June 11, 1999-January 3, 2000, p. 465, no. 307.
Fisher, Jay McKean, et al. The Essence of Line: French drawings from Ingres to Degas. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2005, p. 170-71, ill.
Bruce Laughton, Honoré Daumier, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996, p. 120-21, fig. no. 152, ill. p. 121.
'Daumier visto por Henry James. Lo que unas litografias inspiraron', Saber Ver, 36 (September/October 1997), p. 59.
Roger Passeron, Daumier, New York: 1979, p. 271.
Sarah Symmons, Daumier, London: 1979, p. 85, plate 63.
Robert Rey, Honoré Daumier, New York: 1966, p. 32.
K. E. Maison, Daumier: Drawings, London: Thomas Yoseloff, 1960, p. 20, no. 39.
A Picture Book: 200 Objects in the Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, 1955, ill. p. 50.
Adelyn Breeskin, 'Three Generations of Buying French in Baltimore', Art News, December 1951, p. 38.
Inscribed: lower right in black ink: "h Daumier"; lower right in black ink: "h"; by later hand, lower center verso in brown ink: "1892 (illegible) 54 7.49 (illegible) mardi matin"
