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: administrative morals (series title)
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: 25. 9cm
width: 34. 5cm
dimensions - picture:
height: 16. 2cm
width: 18cm
dimensions - mounting:
height: 50cm
width: 40cm
description:
colored print
marks, inscriptions, hallmarks:
title of the work - above the image: administrative morals. Legend - under the image: mr mrs the director, chiefs, deputy chiefs, employees, supernumeraries, xc xc xc. Going to compliment a bouvelle excellence. Inscription concerning the author - under the image on the left: henry monnier under the image on the right: i. Lith de delpech
number - above image on right: 12
iconographic description:
a crowd of men in strict suits, top hats in hand, rush to greet a person off-camera with a reverence so emphatic that it becomes comical. The room where this crowd is gathered is decorated with a monumental vase in a niche and an imposing painting in a gilded frame representing hunting dogs. 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. "today almost all the ministries have absorbed these formerly separate administrations. In this agglomeration, the directors-general have lost all their luster by losing their hotels, their people, their salons and their little courtyard. Who would recognize today, in the man arriving on foot at the treasury, going up to a second floor, the director-general of forests or indirect taxes, formerly housed in a magnificent hotel, rue sainte-avoye or rue saint-augustin, advisor, often minister of state and peer of france?” [extract the employees or the superior woman, by honoré de balzac]
themes / subjects / places represented:
social subject, morals, salute - curtsy, office worker
institution: maison de balzac
inventory number: bal91. 36. Date: Unknown.
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