The Hired Clapper, plate 19 from "Artists and Bonvivants of Paris," published in Le Charivari

The Hired Clapper, plate 19 from "Artists and Bonvivants of Paris," published in Le Charivari

Honoré Daumier

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translation of caption: "Devil, this is going to be a heated night: A new play in three acts; the comedian wants me to burst out laughing, the heroine wants me to cry, the author wants me to stamp my feet, and the noble old lady wants me to applaud…. that’s how it is done!"

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Hired Clapper, plate 19 from "Artists and Bonvivants of Paris," published in Le CharivariThe Hired Clapper, plate 19 from "Artists and Bonvivants of Paris," published in Le CharivariThe Hired Clapper, plate 19 from "Artists and Bonvivants of Paris," published in Le CharivariThe Hired Clapper, plate 19 from "Artists and Bonvivants of Paris," published in Le CharivariThe Hired Clapper, plate 19 from "Artists and Bonvivants of Paris," published in Le Charivari

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.