Daumier-Pettibon exhibition opens

Ratapoil, Daumier, 1851

I had an unexpected couple of hours free while in Winti so headed to the Reinhart am Stadtgarten to check out its new exhibition Daumier – Pettibon which runs until 4^th August.

A prolific French draughtsman, Daumier produced more than 500 paintings, 4000 lithographs, 1000 wood engravings, 1000 drawings and 100 sculptures during his lifetime. This particular exhibition centres around the foibles of the bourgeoisie, the corruption of the law and the incompetence of a blundering government – and the subsequent uprising and French Revolution of 1848. This feels very relevant for me right now, as my beloved homeland is currently embroiled in the never-ending tragic pantomime that is Brexit and seems to be heading for a bloody revolution of its own.

On entering the exhibition you are welcomed by an enchanting sculpture by Daumier of what looks like a regular ‘dandy’, a prequel to today’s hipster – he honestly wouldn’t look out of place cruising down London’s Brick Lane. But a closer look reveals a contorted pose and fiendish grin, depicting Daumier’s fictional Ratapoil (skinned rat) created as republican hopes dissolved after the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1848 under the presidency of Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, later Napoleon IIl, which already characterized a new repressive regime. With the fictitious figure of Ratapoil, Daumier unmasked the power claims of the new ruler and his pretensions to the emperor throne.

Headache, Bong, Bong, Bong, Ding, Ding, Ding

Prior to this, during the reign of Louis Philippe, Daumier joined the staff of La Caricature where he began his pictorial campaign of satire. He was published almost daily for 40 years in the press and his caricature of the king as Gargantua led to Daumier's imprisonment for six months at Ste Pelagie in 1832. (The UK Government has recently introduced new criminal laws giving sweeping powers to the police which will impact on future protests)

Daumier reveals the ugliness of society in really beautiful, and often humorous, work - his drawings are simply exquisite. For example, he uses the symbol of a big, bountiful pear to represent the bourgeois King Louis-Philippe. In The White Washers, three government employees of the king, the Prime Minister Soult, the Interior Minister Argout and the Attorney General Persil, try to wash the tricolor white (the tricolor flag was an achievement of the French Revolution) The clean washing does not quite succeed: "The blue does go out, but this devilish red sticks like blood", is to be read. I love the humorous touches in his work – I especially love Headache, Bong, bong, bong, ding, ding, ding (1833) and France Rests (1833) and who can resist The Past, the Present, the Future – surely inspiration for the mayor in The Nightmare before Christmas.

Raymond Pettibon, Without title 1985

American Raymond Pettibon is also pretty scathing about modern society, with topics from politics and religion to sports and literature. Since the early 1980s he has used his pen and black humour to portray haunting images of the American promise of ‘happiness’ and lithography which reveals its nightmarish distortions. His handwritten drawings, gouaches, collages, and wall-art comprise various sources, such as pop culture, as well as very personal notes. Pettibon also realised a piece of wall art especially for this exhibition. I especially liked the montage of his work at the far end of the gallery, with that familiar laconic expression of Donald Trump peering out. The Ratapoil character of the present day.

Daumier – Pettibon runs until 4^th August.
Reinhart am Stadtgarten (closed on Monday)
Admission 19fr

France is resting, Daumier, 1833

The past, the present, the future, Daumier, 1834