The Fugitives

The bas-relief sculpture is one of Daumier's earliest expressions of the theme of exile, which he explored frequently between 1848 and 1870. Although possibly inspired by the Polish Revolution or the 1848 insurrection in France, the precise subject remains unknown. This bronze comes from an original edition of five produced in November 1893 by the Siot-Decauville firm. Daumier's painting, The Fugitives, was his last and most dramatic rendering of the refugee theme and might refer to events surrounding the onset of the Franco-Prussian war, or to the insurrection of the commune in France in 1870. Daumier was less interested in depicting specific events than in responding to the depth of human suffering caused by these events.