Honoré Daumier (1808–1879)
Around 1865–70
Oil paint on panel
29.7 x 45.0 cm
Acquired by Oskar Reinhart in 1923
The story of the idealistic knight Don Quixote, published by the Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes in 1605, so fascinated Honoré Daumier that he painted the subject almost 30 times.
Rather than concentrating upon the novel’s more dramatic scenes, Daumier preferred to portray Don Quixote and his squire, Sancho Panza, riding through the rugged Sierra Morena mountains between ill-fated adventures. Another of these works, once owned by Samuel Courtauld, hangs nearby in the Great Room.