The Uprising !

Not only is vince working on the uprising of Czech Republic in the stats,

"The Uprising" Was also a painting made by the hands of Honore Daumier in ca. 1860.

I got the story about this painting in a booklet of the Phillips Collection:


Subject

From the first moment it was exhibited, The Uprising by Daumier was considered “the most
important painting in North America and one of the most significant of his career....”
(National Gallery of Canada 1999, 344). It was purchased by Duncan Phillips in 1925, at a
time when very few Daumier oil paintings had been bought by American museums. Although
during his lifetime Daumier was known mainly as a caricaturist, Duncan Phillips hoped that
this work would reveal to the public what Daumier had achieved as a painter. In 1931 Phillips
stated: “As for Daumier I affirmed his importance as a painter in oil and as the greatest and
most universal artist of his Century fifteen years ago at a time when textbooks referred to him
only as a satirical cartoonist” (Phillips 1931, n.p.).
The Uprising was most likely inspired by the Revolution of 1848 in Paris. In February of that year,
the “Citizen King,” Louis-Philippe, was overthrown. A violent class struggle known as the
“Bloody June Days” followed the coup. During these three days of fighting, nearly ten
thousand people were killed or wounded and eleven thousand were taken prisoner. Daumier
was in Paris during the revolution and undoubtedly was moved by both the atrocities he
witnessed and the will of the people to fight.
Although The Uprising is not a realistic depiction of actual events, it captured the emotion of the
moment and the sentiment of the people. The dominant heroic figure leads the angry mob
onward. The viewer is drawn to this figure because of his white shirt that distinguishes him
from his surroundings. Daumier also emphasized this character’s importance through his
prominent placement and pose. The strong diagonal created by his emphatically raised arm
indicates the crowd’s forward movement. His gesture also symbolizes strength, determination,
and a will to fight. According to Phillips, the figure is a “symbol of all pent up human
indignation” (Passantino 1999, 59).
In this painting, Daumier made it clear that he was sympathetic to the cause of the revolution.
The figures appear downtrodden but defiant. The eyes of the main figure are dark and soulful.
As art historian Henri Focillon noted, “The regard is directed inward. The rioter is possessed
by a dream to which he assembles the crowd” (Passantino 1999, 59).