Monument to Honoré de Balzac - Los Angeles, CA
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member bluesnote
N 34° 03.781 W 118° 21.534
11S E 374596 N 3769975
Honoré Balzac was a famous French novelist. Today, a statue of him is located on the grounds of the LACMA.
Waymark Code: WMQXAN
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 04/09/2016
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Marine Biologist
Views: 3

The plaque says, "Aguste Rodin
France, 1840-1917

Monumnet to Honoré de Balzac,
first modeled 1897
(Musée Rodin cast 9/12, 1967)

Bronze
Gift of the B. Gerald Cantor Art Foundation
M.85.267"

Taken from Wikipedia, "Honoré de Balzac, born Honoré Balzac, 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie Humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 Fall of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Owing to his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature.[3] He is renowned for his multi-faceted characters; even his lesser characters are complex, morally ambiguous and fully human. Inanimate objects are imbued with character as well; the city of Paris, a backdrop for much of his writing, takes on many human qualities. His writing influenced many famous writers, including the novelists Émile Zola, Charles Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Jack Kerouac and Henry James, as well as important philosophers such as Friedrich Engels. Many of Balzac's works have been made into films, and they continue to inspire other writers.

An enthusiastic reader and independent thinker as a child, Balzac had trouble adapting to the teaching style of his grammar school. His willful nature caused trouble throughout his life and frustrated his ambitions to succeed in the world of business. When he finished school, Balzac was apprenticed in a law office, but he turned his back on the study of law after wearying of its inhumanity and banal routine. Before and during his career as a writer, he attempted to be a publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician; he failed in all of these efforts. La Comédie Humaine reflects his real-life difficulties, and includes scenes from his own experience.

Balzac suffered from health problems throughout his life, possibly due to his intense writing schedule. His relationship with his family was often strained by financial and personal drama, and he lost more than one friend over critical reviews. In 1850, Balzac married Ewelina Hanska, a Polish aristocrat and his longtime love; he died in Paris five months later."
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