Honoré Daumier

The Wrestler

Daumier’s paintings often – thanks to the intimacy – have something of the private sphere about them – as if the observer is given access to an unknown part of an otherwise fully accessible area. In this picture he deals with a favourite motif of the age: a wrestling match. But as something peculiar to Daumier’s pictorial world, the focus is very much on the non-combatant wrestler, who steps forth in solitary majesty in the foreground towards the observer. It is his gaze back towards the arena that gives the fight scene its meaning. The contrast between the two scenes of the picture is reinforced by the contrast of light and darkness, distributed in foreground and background, public place and private sphere, activity and passivity, the discharge of energy and thoughtfulness.