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: grisettes (series title)
date of production: 1829
type(s) of object(s): graphic arts, print
name(s): print
materials and techniques: vellum paper, watercolor, lithography
dimensions - artwork:
height: 26. 5cm
width: 35. 1cm
dimensions - picture:
height: 16. 4cm
width: 16. 2cm
dimensions - mounting:
height: 40cm
width: 30cm
description:
plate from the series les grisettes by henry monnier, 1829, in paris, from imp. Lithog. From delpech, quai voltaire n°3
marks, inscriptions, hallmarks:
inscription - above the line in the middle: "grisettes" under the line on the left: "henry monnier" and on the right: "i. Lith. De delpech"
legend - under the image: surprise, arrival of a person we weren't expecting
iconographic description:
in a room furnished very simply with a table and a cupboard, a scene takes place that one might think was taken from a vaudeville show. Two young women hide awkwardly behind the curtains of a large window, while two young men attempt to readjust their messy clothes. Their hats and coats are piled on the table. A stern-looking middle-aged woman has just entered the room. 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: "a young girl, with a lively imagination, locked in a turret, is dying to run into the park where only her eyes penetrate; she invents a way to unseal its gate, she jumps through the window, climbs the wall of the park, and goes to frolic at the neighbor's house. It's an eternal vaudeville!" [excerpt from modeste mignon, by honoré de balzac]
themes / subjects / places represented:
social subject, morals, grisette, cuckold, domestic interior
mode of acquisition: purchase
institution: maison de balzac
inventory number: bal 98-148. Date: 1829.
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