Le malade imaginaire. Je suis perdu.... il faut faire mon testament....... ils vont m'ensevelir... m'enterrer.... adieu!
Title (alt.):
The hypochondriac. I am finished.... I need to make my will....... they will bury me... bury me.... farewell!. Charivari
Description:
As a man sleeps, tiny men surround him and move things about. The prints from the series L’Imagination are very impressive. They have been drawn by Daumier while he was serving a prison sentence (first in the prison St. Pélagie) at the hospital for the mentally ill of Dr. J.P. Casimir Pinel (1800-1856?). Pinel owned a private hospital at 67, rue de Chaillot in Paris. His rather unconventional attitude and political standing made it possible to have political detainees declared “mentally unstable”, like Daumier. Instead spending their time in prison, these unfortunate prisoners were able to serve their sentence in the relaxed surrounding of a private clinic. The hospital was run in such a laid back way that some political “prisoners” continued their subversive activity from within the clinic. Daumier continued drawing this series while being at Pinel’s, but the transfer to the lithographic stone was done by Ramelet.
Copyright restrictions may apply. For permission to copy or use this image, contact the Robert D. Farber University Archives and Special Collections Department, Brandeis University Libraries. The following credit line must be included with each item used: Benjamin A. and Julia M. Trustman Collection of Honoré Daumier Lithographs, Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department, Brandeis University.
Contact host institution for more information.
Place of origin:
Paris
Notes:
2nd state.
Published in: Le Charivari, May 21, 1833.
Notes (acquisition):
Donated by: Benjamin A. and Julia M. Trustman, 1959.
