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: lithography, watercolor, vellum paper
dimensions - artwork:
height: 22. 4cm
width: 28. 7cm
dimensions - image:
height: 16. 7cm
width: 16. 2cm
description:
watercolor lithograph
marks, inscriptions, hallmarks:
title of the work - top: "les petites miseries humaine"
legend - under the image: "childhood. Deprivations, the schoolmaster, the whip, xa,,xa,,"
inscription concerning the author - under the image on the left: "henry monnier"
inscription concerning the author - under the image on the right: "imp. Lith de delpech"
iconographic description:
in a country schoolyard, where ivy, hollyhocks and deciduous trees grow, a rustic scene unfolds. On the left, two young children watch with fear as a third is thrashed with a stick, bare buttocks, by a housewife sitting on a bench. In the center, parents and children are preparing to enter through the old stone door of the primary school. On the right, a man smoking a pipe is seated on the ground. 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: "ordinarily, children's talks soon lead to laughter; from laughter, they came to mystifications without knowing the cruelty. Seven or eight of the first to arrive stood at a distance and began to examine the two old faces while holding back stifled laughter which attracted the attention of lemulquinier. -- hey, do you see that one whose head is like a knee?-- yes. -- hey, he's a natural scholar. -- dad says he makes gold, said another. -- which way? added a third, pointing with a mocking gesture to that part of themselves that schoolchildren so often show themselves as a sign of contempt. The smallest of the group who had his basket full of them? provisions, and who was licking a buttered toast, naively advanced towards the bench and said to lemulquinier: - is it true, sir, that you make pearls and diamonds?" [excerpt from the search for the absolute, by honoré de balzac]
themes / subjects / places represented:
subject of society, morals, school, countryside, child
institution: maison de balzac
inventory number: bal91-96. Unknown date
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