Not to be confused with Louis Boutet de Monvel. Father of Bernard Boutet De Monvel. Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel (18 Oct.1850, Orléans, France -16 March 1913, Paris); French painter and illustrator best known for his watercolors for children's books. A major figure in 19th-century children's literature illustration. ...Boutet de Monvel began doing illustrations for financial reasons.... collaborated with Anatole France for Nos Enfants (Our Children) and a number of other children's books, many of which were translated into English in the early 20th century. According to Anita Silvey in Children's Books and Their Creators, Boutet de Monvel's skill at capturing the moods of children made him a popular portraitist for the children of leading society families in France and elsewhere. His work was warm and sensitive and he received so many commissions for portraits that he contemplated giving up book illustration. In 1895, however, he published an illustrated children's history of Joan of Arc which has been regarded as his masterpiece. Working epic scenes in a muted palette that he described as "It's not color, really, it is the impression, the suggestion of color", he conveyed an emotional spirituality despite his disappointment with reproduction technology. The book gained esteem although he was neither a writer nor a historian. It was republished in 1973 and 1980. Children's literature critic Selma G. Lanes describes his Joan of Arc illustrations: 'Boutet de Monvel's full-page illustrations have a nobility and grandeur akin to the great church frescoes of the Renaissance. Their pleasingly flat rendering combined with a sophisticated use of design elements…owe a debt to the Japanese prints so popular in the artist's day.' ...Silvey ranks Boutet de Monvel alongside Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott as leading figures of the 19th-century golden era of children's book illustration. More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis-Maurice_Boutet_de_Monvel undefined

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