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. 6cm
width: 35. 3cm
dimensions - picture:
height: 18. 3cm
width: 19. 8cm
dimensions - mounting:
height: 40cm
width: 30cm
description:
plate 7 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: "7" under the line on the left: "henry monnier" and on the right: "i. Lith. De delpech"
legend - under the image: a mistake / no, mademoiselle, this is not mr adolphe
iconographic description:
in an interior decorated with a gilded frame, a shelf of books and furnished with a sleigh bed, a comical scene unfolds. In the center of the image, a young woman draped in a cape and wearing an extravagant ribboned hat flees the advances of a man in a nightgown, dressing gown and slippers who follows closely behind her. She has a disdainful expression while he displays a cynical smile. Another man (maybe a priest?) has just opened his door and stares at the young woman with a look of surprise. 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: "--why lie? she continued with a disdainfully cheerful air but in a fairly gentle tone of voice. Now that i have scolded you, i would gladly laugh at a stratagem which is not without malice. I know poor women who would do it. -- god! how he likes it! they would say. The marquise inevitably began to laugh, and added with an air of indulgence: - if we wish to remain friends, let there be no more question of misunderstandings of which i cannot be the dupe - on my honor, madame, you are much more so than you think, replied eugène quickly. [excerpt from study of a woman, by honoré de balzac]
themes / subjects / places represented:
social subject, morals, grisette, bed, domestic interior
mode of acquisition: purchase
institution: maison de balzac
inventory number: bal 98-137. Date: 1827.
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