Author(s):
monnier, henry bonaventure (paris, 07–06–1799 - paris, 03–01–1877 — 3–6–1877), designer
delpech, françois seraphin (orléans, 1778 - 1825), printer-lithographer
other title: parisian sketches (series title)
date of production: 1827
type(s) of object(s): graphic arts, print
name(s): print
materials and techniques: vellum paper, watercolor, lithography
dimensions - artwork:
height: 25. 7cm
width: 35. 3cm
dimensions - image:
height: 19. 5cm
width: 21cm
dimensions - mounting:
height: 40cm
width: 30cm
description:
plate 2 from the series parisian sketches by henry monnier, 1827, in paris, from imp. Lithog. From delpech, quai voltaire n°3
marks, inscriptions, hallmarks:
inscription - above the line in the middle: "esquisses parisiennes" and on the right: "2" under the line on the left: "henry monnier" and on the right: "i. Lith. De delpech"
legend - under the image: a marriage of convenience - the owners are very kind husbands says the aunt who no longer wants to pay rent
iconographic description:
in a plush interior furnished with a bust, heavy curtains, a bookcase and a gilded frame, a middle-aged man with a thick waist uncovers himself to greet a young girl presented by a relative all in petticoats, bonnet and ribbons. 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 customs of their time often inspired the two artists in parallel on numerous subjects as we can see in the following extract: "if i must tell you everything, the birth of my poor child who, moreover, is all myself. You must have been struck by his resemblance to me? it is my hair, my eyes, the cut of my face, my mouth, my smile, my chin, my teeth. Well, his birth is by chance or the fact of a convention of my mother and of my husband. I remained a young girl for a long time after my marriage, almost abandoned the next day, a mother without being a woman. [excerpt from the secrets of the princess of cadignan, by honoré de balzac]
themes / subjects / places represented:
subject of society, morals, young girl, domestic interior
mode of acquisition: purchase
institution: maison de balzac
inventory number: bal 98-132. Date: 1827.
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