The Cartoon Sketches of Henriot
(pseudonym of Henry Maigrot : 1857 - 1933)
Two strips as they appeared in L'Illustration.
The following drawings are taken from the pages of L'Illustration. A weekly editorial comic strip was drawn by artist Henriot (pseudonym of Henry Maigrot : 1857 - 1933) as a regular feature. It was usually placed on the back inside cover amongst the advertisements, probably indicating that that while amusing it was not to be taken as seriously as the other content of the magazine. Nevertheless Henriot produced very modern looking drawings-sketches that were captioned with commentories of all sorts : political, social, comical and what not. During the Great War years, a large proporation of his weekly work was naturally dedicated to the war. His characters were the quintessential French poilu, sometimes sloppy, dirty or bored to tears by life at the front but always patriotic and willing to fight for la Patrie. Henriot usually depicts scenes of everyday life : soldiers talking (or more likely griping) to one another or to an old-timer, soldiers engaged in disputes with officers, soldiers looking forward to receiving mail or a package from a 'Marraine' (godmother), soldiers standing on guard or soldiers on leave.
The commentaries are of little interest to us now, butthe drawings when viewed on their own are often little works of art, at times comical and yet inspiring, for Henriot was apparently an able and gifted illustrator. His drawings impart the dogged determination of the French soldier to see the war through to the end, no matter how wretched and bloody.
Here is a gallery of some 60-odd drawings by Henriot taken at random from L'Illustration during the years 1914-1919. They are ordered according to dates of publication in the magazine and were chosen for their general appearance.
