Paula Rego / Honoré Daumier: Scandal, Gossip and Other Stories, House of Illustration

It might seem peculiar that the House of Illustration London have brought together one of the best known caricaturists of the nineteenth century, Honoré Daumier, with the work of contemporary artist Paula Rego, artist born in Portugal. However, as the title of the exhibition suggests, these two unparalleled printmakers both focus on the comedy of human nature and the stories of scandal and outrage that pepper everyday life.
Honoré Daumier prints
You might know some of the more salacious and satirical of the Honoré Daumier lithographs, featured in the pages of publications such as La Caricature and Le Charivari, which poked fun at the French Monarchy and life in contemporary Paris. Some of these prints were so shocking that they earned the French artist a six-month prison sentence.
Paula Rego artwork
Paula Rego’s prints are similarly subversive and often satirise violent or political subjects with now familiar images lifted from childhood memories and animal characters.
This second major House of Illustration exhibition unites these two printmakers in their humorous take on everyday human narratives, and the wider issues of political and social context with exhilarating results. Don’t miss these two storytellers at one of our favourite unusual London galleries, as they lift the lid on the human condition.