Alphonse Allais

Key facts

Lived

1854–1905, French^[1]

Movements

• Incoherents
• Les Hydropathes

^[1]

Wikipedia

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• What is Alphonse Allais known for?+

  Alphonse Allais is known for submitting monochrome works to the Exposition des Arts Incohérents in Paris. These included a sheet of white Bristol paper titled First Communion of Anaemic Young Girls in the Snow, a red sheet (Apoplectic Cardinals Harvesting Tomatoes on the Shore of the Red Sea), and a piece described as a funeral march for a deaf man. He also produced Funeral March for the Obsequies of a Great Deaf Man, twenty-four measures of notated silence.
• What is Alphonse Allais's most famous work?+

  Alphonse Allais is best known for his monochrome paintings, a series of largely single-colour works that served as both artistic experiments and humorous commentary. Allais himself credited Paul Bilhaud with the first monochrome, Combat of Blacks in a Cave, shown at the Arts Incohérents in 1882^[1]. This work is now known only from the first plate of Allais’s Album. Allais referred to the style as "monochroïdal painting". Allais's work in this vein includes a black monochrome, the title of which is a mix of human and natural elements. The titles and the monochrome format were intended to ridicule both avant-garde complacency and traditional academic art. Despite the comic intent, Allais's monochromes had an impact. Émile Cohl, for example, exhibited a black monochrome in 1884. Later, in 1910, Cohl's film, Le peintre neo-impressioniste, presented hand-coloured monochromes as the work of his hero. Allais also published a second white monochrome in his Album.
• What should I know about Alphonse Allais's prints?+

  Alphonse Allais (1854^[1]-1905^[1]) was a French^[1] writer and humourist. He is now primarily known for his short stories and his association with the Parisian avant-garde. Late in life, he experimented with absurdist monochrome "paintings", which predate similar works by Malevich and Klein. Allais's most famous monochrome is titled "First Communion of Anaemic Young Girls in the Snow". It is a completely white picture. He created several other monochrome works, including "Funeral of a Hering" (sic) which is black, and "Tomatoes Releasing the Concentration of Redness" which is red. These works are conceptual jokes; Allais was satirising the art world. They were not intended to be serious artistic statements. They were published in small editions in his humour books, or in the satirical press. These publications are the original context for Allais's colour field works. They were not produced as fine art prints during his lifetime. Modern prints are reproductions of the images as they appeared in periodicals such as *Le Chat Noir*.
• What style or movement did Alphonse Allais belong to?+

  Alphonse Allais (1854^[1]-1905^[1]) was a French^[1] writer, humorist, and artist whose work anticipated several later artistic movements. His style is difficult to categorise neatly, but he is often linked to early forms of absurdism and humour noir. Allais's art included monochrome works, such as "First Communion of Anaemic Young Girls in the Snow" (1882^[1]), which consisted of a blank white canvas. These pieces predate similar experiments by artists such as Kasimir Malevich. His wordplay, nonsense, and rejection of conventional artistic values connect him to Dada. Dada was a movement that began in Zurich in 1916, marked by its chaotic energy and nihilistic views, and its members often contradicted themselves. Allais's work also has ties to Surrealism. Surrealism valued automatism and the absurd. Both movements shared an interest in undermining logic. Allais's influence can be seen in the wordplay and unconventional approach of Surrealist artists.
• What techniques or materials did Alphonse Allais use?+

  Alphonse Allais is best known as a writer and humorist; however, he also created a series of monochrome artworks. These pieces, made during the 1880s, satirised the art world of his time. Allais's "artwork" consisted of blank canvases or sheets of paper bearing only a single colour or, in some cases, no colour at all. For example, his 1882^[1] work, "Combat de nègres dans un tunnel" (Negroes Fighting in a Tunnel), is a completely black rectangle. Another, from 1883, "Première communion de jeunes filles chlorotiques par un temps de neige" (First Communion of Anaemic Young Girls in the Snow), is simply a blank white sheet. These works were not executed using traditional artistic techniques. Instead, Allais presented them as readymade jokes, mocking academic painting and conventional artistic values. The materials were basic: paint, paper, and canvas used to deliver a conceptual jest. His monochrome works predate similar experiments by artists such as Kazimir Malevich, who created "Black Square" in 1915. Allais's pieces are viewed as humorous Dadaist or proto-conceptual statements, rather than serious artistic explorations of form or colour.
• What was Alphonse Allais known for?+

  Alphonse Allais (born in Honfleur, 1855^[1]; died 1905^[1]) was a journalist, wit, and humorist. His artistic activity is mainly documented by his participation in the Exposition des Arts Incoherents^[1] in 1883 and 1884. These exhibitions, founded by Jules Levy in 1882, parodied the official Salon exhibitions, complete with illustrated catalogues. They attracted both artists and literary figures. Allais's contributions included burlesque works. At the 1883 exhibition, he displayed a sheet of white paper titled *First Communion of Anaemic Young Girls in the Snow*. In 1884, he presented similar pieces, such as *Apoplectic Cardinals Harvesting Tomatoes on the Shore of the Red Sea (Study of the Aurora Borealis)*, which was a red version of the white Bristol paper, and *The Great Sorrows Are Silent (Incoherent Funeral March)*, the format of which is unknown. One review noted the 'suave title' of Allais's 'sheet of absolutely white Bristol paper'.
• When did Alphonse Allais live and work?+

  Alphonse Allais was active in France during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The dates mentioned in relation to Allais's lifetime are limited. However, a range of cultural and artistic events that occurred during his life can be established. In 1885^[1], Victor Hugo died, and artistic reviews by Duret were published. By 1886, Van Gogh had arrived in Paris, and the first Neo-Impressionist paintings were exhibited. The 1890s saw increased artistic activity, including the first music hall posters for the Moulin Rouge in 1891. By 1893, Art Nouveau was spreading across Europe. The first public film showing in Paris occurred in 1895. The Paris World Fair was held in 1900.
• Where can I see Alphonse Allais's work?+

  Alphonse Allais's work can be viewed in a number of museums. These include Musée des Arts Décoratifs, in Paris, and Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nancy, France. Other French^[1] museums that hold works by Allais are Musée d’Art et d’Industrie in Roubaix, and Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy. Outside France, Allais's art can be seen at the Brangwyn Museum, in Bruges, Belgium. In Spain, visit Museo Art Nouveau y Art Deco, located in Salamanca; or Museu d’Art Modern (MNAC) in Barcelona. In Portugal, the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, in Lisbon, also holds pieces by Allais. In the United Kingdom, collections can be found at the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, Manchester Art Gallery, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, in London. In the United States, visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), or the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
• Where was Alphonse Allais from?+

  Alphonse Allais was born in Honfleur, a port town in the Calvados department of Normandy, France. He spent his early life there; his father operated a pharmacy. Allais attended the local school in Honfleur, and later studied at the Lycée Henri-IV in Paris. He did not complete his studies in Paris, choosing instead to return to Honfleur. He worked for a time in his father's pharmacy. Although Allais spent time in Paris throughout his adult life, he maintained a connection to his Norman roots. His upbringing in Honfleur likely influenced his artistic sensibilities and humour, which often reflected the quirks and eccentricities of provincial life. He is considered a Norman artist because of his place of birth, and because he spent his formative years in Normandy.
• Who did Alphonse Allais influence?+

  Alphonse Allais was an influence on other artists, most notably Émile Cohl. Cohl exhibited a black monochrome in 1884^[1]. He also presented hand-coloured monochromes in the 1910 film *Le peintre neo-impressioniste*, attributing them to Allais. Allais himself credited Paul Bilhaud with originating the monochrome. Bilhaud showed *Combat of Blacks in a Cave* at the Arts Incohérents in 1882. Allais's work was also shown at the Arts Incohérents in 1884; these included the red painting *Récolte de la tomate*, and *Les grandes douleurs sont muettes. Marche funèbre incohérente*. There is an argument that Allais was a source for Kazimir Malevich, at least for the final state of his painting *Black Square*.
• Who influenced Alphonse Allais?+

  Alphonse Allais's influences are not well documented, but Marcel Duchamp named two figures who explored similar territory: Raymond Roussel and Jean-Pierre Brisset. Duchamp stated that Roussel gave him the idea that he, too, could try something in the sense of "anti-sense". Roussel, in a booklet, explained how, starting with a sentence, he made a word game with kinds of parentheses. Duchamp said that Roussel's word-play had a hidden meaning, but not in the sense belonging to Mallarmé or Rimbaud; it was an obscurity of another order. Duchamp also stated that he admired Brisset for his "frenzied or ecstatic imagination". According to Duchamp, Brisset's works represented a philological analysis of language, an analysis carried out through an incredible interweaving of puns. Brisset's principal works included La Science de Dieu, ou La Création de l’homme (1900^[1]), Les Prophéties accomplies (1906) and Les origines humaines (1913).
• Who was Alphonse Allais?+

  Alphonse Allais (1855^[1]-1905^[1]) was a journalist and humourist, born in Honfleur. While primarily known for his writing, he also participated in the Expositions des Arts Incoherents^[1] in 1883 and 1884. This is the only documented evidence of his artistic activity. At the 1883 show, Allais exhibited a blank sheet of Bristol paper titled *First Communion of Anaemic Young Girls in the Snow*. In 1884, he followed this with similarly absurd works. These included *Apoplectic Cardinals Harvesting Tomatoes on the Shore of the Red Sea (Study of the Aurora Borealis)*. Another was *The Great Sorrows Are Silent (Incoherent Funeral March)*, though its format is unknown. The red version of the Bristol sheet was certainly the former. The Expositions des Arts Incoherents, started by Jules Levy in 1882, parodied the Salon exhibitions. The listed 'artists' were often thinly veiled figures of the time, and their 'works' alluded to current events and scandals. Fénéon noted the 'suave title' of Allais' 'sheet of absolutely white Bristol paper'.