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: yesterday & today (series title)
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. 8cm
width: 28. 9cm
dimensions - picture:
height: 16. 2cm
width: 15cm
description:
watercolor lithograph
marks, inscriptions, hallmarks:
wet stamp - t. H. (back): monogram a m and 2 r next to each other?
title of the work - top: "today. "
legend - under the image: "the complement of studies. "
inscription concerning the author - under the image, on the left: "henry monnier"
inscription concerning the author - under the image, on the right: "?. Lith de delpech"
iconographic description:
in a bourgeois restoration style interior, a couple of young people converse while seated on an opulent bench. A bed can be seen in an alcove in the background. If the young woman stands quietly with her hands crossed in her lap, the young man, dressed as a dandy, has a more nonchalant and seductive attitude. This print is paired with another, this time representing a student/tutor duo at a time (given as such by the cartoonist) when young men found their education not in the arms of a beauty but under the rule of a learned professor. 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: "older than louis, ginevra found extreme sweetness in being courted by a young man already so tall, so tested by fate, and who added to the experience of a man all the graces of adolescence. For his part, louis felt an indescribable pleasure in letting himself be protected in appearance by a young girl of twenty-five years old. There had a certain inexplicable pride in this feeling. Perhaps it was a proof of love. [excerpt from la vendetta, by honoré de balzac]
themes / subjects / places represented:
social subject, morals, room, sofa, bed, couple
institution: maison de balzac
inventory number: bal91-104. Unknown date
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