Drawn primarily from the McNay’s outstanding collection of works on paper, this exhibition highlights the extraordinary creativity in 19th-century France, a time when we also rarely consider that printed images were subject to censorship laws—particularly between 1820 and 1880. In fact, some of this creativity was strategy to subvert and work around existing laws. The exhibition features critical images by Honoré Daumier and Édouard Manet in the context of prints made by their peers and later artists. The latter group includes Pablo Picasso, José Clemente Orozco, José Guadalupe Posada, who were inspired by how artists such as Manet and Daumier dealt with government censorship and used caricature to make protest art. In addition, more recent works by activist Guerrilla Girls and Donald Moffett add a contemporary lens to the presentation.

"Do Not Meddle With It!!: Print Censorship in 19th Century Paris" is organized for the McNay Art Museum by Elizabeth Kathleen Mitchell, Ph.D., Curator of Prints and Drawings.

Support is provided by the Elizabeth Huth Coates Charitable Foundation of 1992.