Author(s):
monnier, henry bonaventure (paris, 07–06–1799 - paris, 03–01–1877 — 3–6–1877), designer
delpech, françois seraphin (orléans, 1778 - 1825), designer-lithographer
other title: little human miseries (title of the series)
dating in century: 19th century
type(s) of object(s): graphic arts, print
name(s): print
materials and techniques: vellum paper, watercolor, lithography
dimensions - artwork:
height: 22. 4cm
width: 28. 9cm
dimensions - image:
height: 15. 7cm
width: 15. 7cm
description:
colored print
marks, inscriptions, hallmarks:
title of the work - above the image: little human miseries
legend - under the image: the cold
inscription concerning the author - under the image on the right: i. Lith de delpechunder the image on the left: henry monnier
iconographic description:
two men stand face to face in a park crowded with walkers wrapped in their coats and hats. The two men hide their hands in the too-long sleeves of their coats. Their hats are pulled down to their ears, but their uncovered noses are red and streaming with snot. One of the two is wearing poor slippers without socks. Actor, playwright and designer, henry monnier helped illustrate la comédie humaine. His engravings of administrative morals, and especially his play scenes from bureaucratic life, clearly inspired balzac for his novel la femme supérieure, renamed les employés. The same references to the morals of their time often inspired the two artists in parallel on numerous subjects as we can see in the following extract: "was he a miser, was he a painter dying of poverty, was he a cynic to whom the world was indifferent, or some religious person detached from the world who had inhabited this apartment? we could ask ourselves this triple question by smelling the odor of poverty, by seeing greasy stains on the papers covered with a tint of smoke, the ceilings blackened, the windows with small powdery panes, the bricks of the floor browned, the woodwork coated with a kind of sticky glaze. A damp cold fell through the chimneys made of painted sculpted stone, the windows of which had seventeenth-century piers. The apartment was square like the house which framed the interior courtyard, which godefroid could not see at night. Godfrey to the priest. " [excerpt from the other side of contemporary history, by honoré de balzac]
themes / subjects / places represented:
social subject, morals, winter, poverty - misery, park
institution: maison de balzac
inventory number: bal91. 100. Unknown date
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