# L'Eau est délicieuse... je t'assure...

**Honoré Daumier** (French, 1808–1879)  
1845  
lithograph

Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1978.104.5. [The museum's record](https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.56893.html).

## About this work

A woman sits fully dressed on the bank beneath a tree, her bonnet at her side, while a man up to his shoulders in the water assures her that it is delicious. Honoré Daumier published thousands of lithographs in the Parisian satirical press, above all in Le Charivari, and many of them poke fun at middle-class Parisians and their attempts to enjoy bathing, holidays and the countryside. The caption, “The water is delicious… I assure you…”, supplies the joke, and her firmly seated pose suggests she is not convinced.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Honoré Daumier made this in 1845, aged 37. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

### What you’re looking at

The image shows a woman sitting beside a body of water, under a tree. She is wearing a long dress and holding a bonnet by her side. In the water, a person is visible from the shoulders up with short hair. The background includes a landscape with trees, water, and a distant structure that resembles a house or castle.

_Description from the National Gallery of Art._

### How it was made

- **Lithograph.** Drawn on limestone with a greasy crayon or ink. The stone is kept damp, and the oily printing ink clings only to the drawing. Invented in the 1790s, it let artists print exactly as they drew.

### [Honoré Daumier](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/honore-daumier)

French, 1808–1879; born in Marseilles; died in Valmondois

Daumier grew up in Paris after his family left Marseilles, and learned lithography as a young man. For some forty years he drew for satirical papers such as La Caricature and Le Charivari, producing around four thousand lithographs that mocked politicians, lawyers and the habits of the Parisian middle class; a caricature of King Louis-Philippe earned him six months in prison in 1832. His paintings and drawings, such as The Third-Class Carriage, treat ordinary people with deep sympathy.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Print
- The artist was 37
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: Woman, Tree, Water, Man, Building
- Colour: white
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1589.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1589/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/l-eau-est-delicieuse-je-t-assure-nga-56893).