Galerie théâtrale

Henry Monnier created the character of Monsieur Prudhomme, the emblematic paunchy bourgeois, as conformist as he was foolish — a figure Balzac would call “the illustrious type of the Parisian bourgeois” and whom Paul Verlaine would evoke in an eponymous poem in his Poèmes saturniens.

Author, actor and director, Monnier was also a skilled draftsman who sketched the colorful manners of Parisian life that he mocked in his plays. In his Galerie théâtrale, devoted to actors’ scenes, rehearsals and backstage theater life, he captures the likenesses of the celebrities of his time, often actors and actresses, and entertainers he encountered on stage or in cafés after performances.

A rare suite, entirely hand-colored.

It was printed by Armand Gaugain, one of the great lithographic printers of the late 1820s. “He was the printer of Delacroix’s superb Tigre royal (1829). His output is emblematic of Romanticism. At the 1827 Exposition des produits de l’industrie française, Gaugain, Lambert et compagnie received an honorable mention […]” (in Dictionnaire des imprimeurs-lithographes du XIXe siècle, École des Chartes, Elec, 2024). As for Jean Ardit, he was first Gaugain’s clerk before taking over, from 1829, the marketing of his print stock. “Henry Monnier gave him his series sold in installments: Les Grisettes, the Galerie dramatique caricaturing the small world of theaters, the artists of the Théâtre des Variétés, the Pasquinades… In 1830, in addition to Monnier’s caricatures, Ardit also sold prints ridiculing Charles X or recalling painful episodes of the Revolution.”

Detailed list of plates:
1 – Sauteurs, 2 – Phénomènes, 3 – Une débutante, 4 – Une queue, 5 – Un Foyer, 6 – Le derrière de la toile, 7 – Une loge, 8 – Un comité de lecture, 9 – Un Paradis, 10 – Une indisposition, 11 – Une représentation, 12 – Mamans de comédie, 13 – Chef d’emploi, 14 – Cabaleurs, 15 – Une répétition, 16 – Le Corps des ballets, 17 – Troupe ambulante, 18 – Tragédiens, 19 – Un ancien camarade, 20 – Un Parterre, 21 – Comédie Bourgeoise. (Le Mariage de Figaro), 22 – Le Bienfaiteur, 23 – Une grande Coquette, 24 – Leçon de déclamation.

Beraldi, X, 397–421; Vanheule, Henri Monnier, dessins et lithographies, 93; Ray, The Art of the French Illustrated Book, 135: “In this engaging album Monnier offers an informal view of the theatrical life of his time, ranging from strolling acrobats and sideshows to the ballet and classical tragedy.”; Bobins III, 974; Marie 275–295.