MOUNET-SULLY (1841–1916). Sketchbook bound in green percalin - Lot 474

MOUNET-SULLY (1841–1916). Sketchbook bound in green percaline, monogrammed "SM," containing 13 sketches, most of which are signed and dated. Charcoal, graphite, and India ink: portraits (Rembrandt), animals, landscapes, flowers. 21.5 x 31 cm. Included is a watercolor depicting a house near a lake, signed A. Dupuy and dated 1863. Handwritten note: “This album is my father-in-law, Mounet-Sully’s, from his youth; in addition to the drawings he made himself, other older drawings by him have been added… (theater drawings, sketches of his friends, etc.). My father-in-law destroyed many papers, but he always wanted to keep this album.” Biography: Jean-Sully Mounet, known as Mounet-Sully, born on February 27, 1841, in Bergerac and died on March 1, 1916, in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, was a French stage and film actor and a member of the Comédie-Française. Born into a middle-class Protestant family from the Béarn region, who intended for him to become a lawyer, he chose instead to follow his calling and become an actor. His brother was Paul Mounet, an actor, drama teacher, and member of the Comédie-Française. After a year of study at the Paris Conservatory, he made his debut at the Odéon in 1868, where he played only minor roles. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, he was assigned as a lieutenant in the reserve forces in the Dordogne. Upon his return to Paris, the Odéon closed its doors to him. Thanks to the support of his former teacher at the Conservatoire, he then joined the Comédie-Française. He made his debut there on July 4, 1872, in the role of Orestes. The audience applauded him, but critics remained reserved, criticizing his acting as too unconventional. Endowed with an imposing stature, graceful movements, and a beautiful voice, he nevertheless went on to establish himself as one of the most renowned tragic actors of his time. Holding his art in high regard, he revitalized a craft that had not undergone such a transformation since Talma. Contrary to Diderot and his “Paradox on the Actor,” Mounet-Sully believed that an actor must set aside his own personality when stepping onto the stage, allowing himself to be entirely absorbed by his role. Elected as the 297th member of the Théâtre-Français in 1874, he played the great roles of the repertoire: Rodrigue in *Le Cid*, Nero in *Britannicus*, Hippolytus in *Phaedra*, Orosmane in *Zaïre*, and Hernani in 1877 alongside Sarah Bernhardt, reaching the height of his career in 1881 in *Oedipus Rex*, performed at the Théâtre-Français in Paris and revived in 1888 at the ancient theater in Orange. In 1885, he directed a more modern version of *Britannicus*—which won over the audience—in which he played Nero. In 1886, he enjoyed another triumph in the role of Hamlet. In 1894, having become the senior member following Edmond Got’s departure, he founded the Chorégies d’Orange with Émilie Leroux, beginning with a production of Sophocles’ *Antigone*. In 1908, he began his film career, notably with *The Kiss of Judas* by Armand Bour and André Calmettes, followed by *Andromaque* the next year, Calmette’s *La scène des fossoyeurs d’Hamlet* and Gaston Roudès’s *La Légende d’Œdipe-roi* in 1912. In 1914, when war broke out, his position led him to defend the interests of the Comédie-Française as part of the troupe was mobilized and it became difficult to put on performances. Although he was over seventy years old, he still performed from time to time. Thus, in April 1915, he appeared in one of the roles that had contributed most to his success years earlier: that of Polyeucte. It was his final appearance. He was also the author of a five-act play, *La Buveuse de larmes*, and two plays in verse: *Gygès* and *La Vieillesse de Don Juan*. A lover of Sarah Bernhardt, Mounet-Sully was the partner of the actress Jeanne Rémy, with whom he had a daughter who would also become a member of the troupe under the name Jeanne Sully. Following a funeral service at the Oratoire du Louvre, he was buried at the Montparnasse Cemetery. A street in his hometown of Bergerac bears his name.