Honoré Victorin Daumier, February 26, 1808, Marseille, France - February 10, 1879, Paris) - French graphic artist, painter and sculptor, the greatest master of political cartoons of the XIX century.
Daumier was an excellent satirist, able to convey the character of a person with one stroke of a pen. His portraits of leading political figures full of sarcastic sarcasm, as well as comments on current events of the day were well known and apprehended with caution. Daumier had a rare gift to laconically convey in the picture that would require a verbose description. He was also an excellent painter and sculptor. His cartoons in the technique of lithography, the total number of which is about four thousand, was collected by famous artists such as Edgar Degas; they amaze with an amazing freedom of performance, comparable only to Japanese calligraphy.