Jean-Claude Pulcheron, the hypocrite

Honoré Daumier, 1832.

François Guizot, the bore

Honoré Daumier, 1832.

Jacques Lefebvre, the fine and trenchant spirit

Honoré Daumier, 1832.

Takanori Aiba: Bonsai-B

Napoleon on his Imperial Throne, 1806, as hideous as it is engrossing:

Is this bad art? It certainly oozes moral ugliness. Its Napoleon is not merely idealized, he is fetishized; I find the typically delicate little Ingres-hands (and his wee foot) almost nauseating in the middle of all this material concupiscence. The picture prefigures the Nuremberg Rallies. It is one of the most reactionary things I’ve ever seen. There is nothing lovely about it at all, and no trace of anything human. But I can’t stop looking at it.

Robert Herrmann: River Buildings, 1966