Henry Monnier
Encyclopedia
Henry-Bonaventure Monnier (7 June 1799, Paris
- 3 January 1877) was a French playwright, caricaturist and actor.
. He installed himself in London
in 1822 and return to France 5 years later. His meetings with Alexandre Dumas, Théophile Gautier
, Stendhal
, Eugène Sue
, Prosper Mérimée
, Eugène Scribe
, Eugène Delacroix
, Louis Boulanger
and Honoré de Balzac
opened doors to him.
Between 1827 and 1832, he produced several albums of lithographs, satirising the mores
and physiognomies
of his contemporaries and of the "grisettes" (or louche young men) in his office. He created the character Monsieur Prudhomme, of whom Balzac
said was the "illustration of the type of the Parisian middle-class" and who inspired the poem of that title in Paul Verlaine
's Poèmes saturniens
.
On 21 May 1834, Monnier married Caroline Péguchet (known as Caroline Linsel, an actress at the Théâtre de la Monnaie
) in Brussels
.
From the 1850s onwards, he essentially devoted himself to writing and theatre.
He was the author of the famous phrase - On devrait construire les villes à la campagne, l’air y est tellement plus pur ! - that is usually attributed to Alphonse Allais
.
In 1931 Sacha Guitry
created a play freely inspired by Monnier's life, entitled Monsieur Prudhomme a-t-il vécu ?.
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
- 3 January 1877) was a French playwright, caricaturist and actor.
Life
After studying at the Lycée Bonaparte, he frequented the workshops of Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson and Antoine-Jean GrosAntoine-Jean Gros
Baron Antoine-Jean Gros , also known as Jean-Antoine Gros, was both a French History and neoclassical painter.-Early life and training:...
. He installed himself in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1822 and return to France 5 years later. His meetings with Alexandre Dumas, Théophile Gautier
Théophile Gautier
Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, art critic and literary critic....
, Stendhal
Stendhal
Marie-Henri Beyle , better known by his pen name Stendhal, was a 19th-century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism in his two novels Le Rouge et le Noir and La Chartreuse de Parme...
, Eugène Sue
Eugène Sue
Joseph Marie Eugène Sue was a French novelist.He was born in Paris, the son of a distinguished surgeon in Napoleon's army, and is said to have had the Empress Joséphine for godmother. Sue himself acted as surgeon both in the Spanish campaign undertaken by France in 1823 and at the Battle of Navarino...
, Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.-Life:...
, Eugène Scribe
Eugène Scribe
Augustin Eugène Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years.-Biography:...
, Eugène Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
, Louis Boulanger
Louis Boulanger
Louis Boulanger was a French Romantic painter, lithographer and illustrator.-Life:He enrolled in 1821 at the École des beaux-arts where he attended the workshop of Guillaume Guillon Lethière and received a solid classical training. Next he made a présentation for the prix de Rome, in 1824, in...
and Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
opened doors to him.
Between 1827 and 1832, he produced several albums of lithographs, satirising the mores
Mores
Mores, in sociology, are any given society's particular norms, virtues, or values. The word mores is a plurale tantum term borrowed from Latin, which has been used in the English language since the 1890s....
and physiognomies
Physiognomy
Physiognomy is the assessment of a person's character or personality from their outer appearance, especially the face...
of his contemporaries and of the "grisettes" (or louche young men) in his office. He created the character Monsieur Prudhomme, of whom Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
said was the "illustration of the type of the Parisian middle-class" and who inspired the poem of that title in Paul Verlaine
Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
's Poèmes saturniens
Poèmes saturniens
Poèmes saturniens is the first collection of poetry by Paul Verlaine, first published in 1866.Verlaine was linked with the Parnassien movement in French poetry. He published his first poem in their journal, Revue du Progrès moral, littéraire, scientifique et artistique, in August 1863...
.
On 21 May 1834, Monnier married Caroline Péguchet (known as Caroline Linsel, an actress at the Théâtre de la Monnaie
La Monnaie
Le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie , or the Koninklijke Muntschouwburg is a theatre in Brussels, Belgium....
) in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
.
From the 1850s onwards, he essentially devoted himself to writing and theatre.
He was the author of the famous phrase - On devrait construire les villes à la campagne, l’air y est tellement plus pur ! - that is usually attributed to Alphonse Allais
Alphonse Allais
Alphonse Allais was a French writer and humorist born in Honfleur, Calvados.He is the author of many collections of whimsical writings. A poet as much as a humorist, he in particular cultivated the verse form known as holorhyme, i.e. made up entirely of homophonous verses, where entire lines rhyme...
.
In 1931 Sacha Guitry
Sacha Guitry
Alexandre-Pierre Georges Guitry was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the Boulevard theatre.- Biography :...
created a play freely inspired by Monnier's life, entitled Monsieur Prudhomme a-t-il vécu ?.
Collections of drawings and caricatures
- Scènes populaires dessinées à la plume, 2 vol. (1830)
- Physiologie du bourgeois (1841)
- Scènes de la ville et de la campagne (1841)
- Les Bourgeois de Paris, scènes comiques (1854)
- Mémoires de Monsieur Joseph Prudhomme, 2 vol. (1857)
- Les Petites Gens (1857)
- Scènes parisiennes (1857)
- Galerie d’originaux (1858)
- Les Bas-fonds de la société (1862)
Theatre
- Les Mendiants (1829)
- La Famille improvisée (1831)
- Un enfant du peuple (1846)
- La Chasse au succès (1849)
- Les Compatriotes (1849)
- Grandeur et décadence de M. Joseph Prudhomme (1852)
- Le Roman chez la portière (1855)
- Les Métamorphoses de Chamoiseau (1856)
- Peintres et bourgeois (1855)
- Comédies bourgeoises (1858)
- Cendrillon ou la Pantoufle merveilleuse (1879)
External links
- Une maison du Marais (1831).
- La Manie des albums (1832).