The London Omnibus

Nadar French

Not on view

Best known today as a pioneering photographer, Nadar worked as a caricaturist for almost twenty years, contributing to many of the major satirical magazines of his day. These two pairs of drawings, likely intended to be reproduced as wood engravings, contrast the harried experience of riding the omnibus "today" with idealized visions for what it will be like "tomorrow." Their humor is both specific to the nineteenth-century fascination with omnibus travel as an experience of urban modernity and universally understood by anyone who experiences the frustrations of a daily commute on mass-transit.

The London Omnibus, Nadar (French, Paris 1820–1910 Paris), Pen and ink, brush and wash and white gouache over graphite

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The London Omnibus, Nadar (French, Paris 1820–1910 Paris), Pen and ink, brush and wash and white gouache over graphite
The London Omnibus, Nadar (French, Paris 1820–1910 Paris), Pen and ink, brush and wash and white gouache over graphite
The London Omnibus, Nadar (French, Paris 1820–1910 Paris), Pen and ink, brush and wash and white gouache over graphite
The London Omnibus, Nadar (French, Paris 1820–1910 Paris), Pen and ink, brush and wash and white gouache over graphite

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