Plate 43: A man of sensitivity at the right price, from 'Caricaturana,' published in Les Robert Macaires

Plate 43: A man of sensitivity at the right price, from 'Caricaturana,' published in Les Robert Macaires

Honoré Daumier

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

- Gentlemen, the act in question is evidently worthless, besmirched by fraud and without legal status... (the president interrupts Maître Macaire) - But you're making a mistake, you're pleading against your own side... - (Robert, aside) It's true. By the devil, I got carried away. - (aloud) There we are, that's what you were certainly going to say... but this act is certainly honest, legal and perfectly in order etc. etc. (he pleads for five hours without interruption and loses his case).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plate 43: A man of sensitivity at the right price, from 'Caricaturana,' published in Les Robert MacairesPlate 43: A man of sensitivity at the right price, from 'Caricaturana,' published in Les Robert MacairesPlate 43: A man of sensitivity at the right price, from 'Caricaturana,' published in Les Robert MacairesPlate 43: A man of sensitivity at the right price, from 'Caricaturana,' published in Les Robert MacairesPlate 43: A man of sensitivity at the right price, from 'Caricaturana,' published in Les Robert Macaires

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.