She's Gone!
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), She’s Gone (Ciel! apres trois mois…), lithograph, 1841, published in Le Charivari as plate 45 in the series Moeurs Conjugales. References: Delteil 668, Daumier Register 668, Delteil’s third state of three, DR’s fourth state of four. A sur blanc impression, without letterpress verso. [With the address, inscription, number, and initials of artist in the plate] In very good condition, with wide margins, 12 1/4 x 8, the sheet 14 x 11 inches, archival matting.
A fine clear and black good impression of this humourous print.
Loys Delteil did not identify this state of the print, but the recently published (online) Daumier Register notes that this is a fourth state, with the address of the publisher Bauger at the lower left.
The sur blanc issues of the Daumier prints were for collectors of the prints who appreciated the heavier paper (heavier than newsprint) and lack of interference of the letterpress verso in the image. They were issued in very limited editions of about 100 (especially popular prints perhaps a few more, others possibly less), in this case probably just after the publication of the lithograph in Le Charivari.
Uncharacteristically, the idea for this print, and the language below, were Daumier’s.
Here the translation (courtesy of the Daumier Register):
Original Text:
Ciel! après trois mois d’absence, je trouve ma femme déménagée!….. et quels souvenirs me laisse-t-elle, grand Dieu!…
Translation:
My God!… After having been away for three months I find that my wife has moved out! And what memories she leaves behind, good Lord!