Alphonse Allais (20 October 1854 in
Honfleur – 28 October 1905 in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
) was a French
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...
,
journalist
A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism.
Roles
Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
and
humorist
A humorist is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking. A raconteur is one who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way.
Henri Bergson writes that a humorist's work grows from viewing the morals of society ...
. He was also the editor of the ''
Chat Noir,'' a
satirical
Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...
magazine.
Life
From 1879, Alphonse Allais attended the ″Hydropathic Society″ of
Émile Goudeau, from which the school of
fumism grew. Evidence (and the crowning glory) of Alphonse Allais's first literary successes was the January 1880 issue of the newspaper ″Hydropat″ entirely dedicated to him, with a caricature on the entire cover.
['' Yuri Khanon:'' «Dada before Dada», Chapter]
«..Fumists..»
(in Russian) It depicted a blond pharmacist, Alphonse Allais.
Already in the first year of
Fumism, Paul Vivien wrote in his “leading” article:
Work
He is the author of many collections of whimsical writings. A poet as much as a
humorist
A humorist is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking. A raconteur is one who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way.
Henri Bergson writes that a humorist's work grows from viewing the morals of society ...
, he cultivated the verse form known as
holorhyme (all verses are homophonous, where entire lines are pronounced the same). For example:
Par les bois du djinn où s'entasse de l'effroi,
Parle et bois du gin, ou cent tasses de lait froid.
Allais wrote the earliest known example of a completely silent musical composition. His ''Funeral March for the Obsequies of a Great Deaf Man'' of 1897 consists of 24 blank measures. It predates similarly silent but intellectually serious works by
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...
and
Erwin Schulhoff
Erwin Schulhoff (; 8 June 189418 August 1942) was an Austro-Czech composer and pianist. He was one of the figures in the generation of European musicians whose successful careers were prematurely terminated by the rise of the Nazi regime in Germ ...
by many years. His prose piece "Story for Sara" was translated and illustrated by
Edward Gorey.
Allais participated in humorous exhibitions, including those of the Salon des
Arts Incohérents of 1883 and 1884, held at the
Galerie Vivienne. At these, inspired by his friend
Paul Bilhaud's 1882 exhibit of an entirely black painting entitled "Negroes fight in a tunnel" (which he later reproduced with a slightly different title), Allais exhibited arguably some of the earliest examples of
monochrome painting
Monochromatic painting has played a significant role in Modernism, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary Western world, Western visual art, originating with the early 20th-century European avant-gardes. Artists have explored the non-represent ...
: for instance his plain white sheet of
Bristol paper '' (First Communion of Anemic Young Girls In The Snow)'' (1883), and a similar red work ''Apoplectic Cardinals Harvesting Tomatoes on the Shore of the Red Sea (Aurora Borealis Effect)'' (1884). Allais published his ''
Album primo-avrilesque'' in 1897, a monograph with seven monochrome artworks, accompanied by the score of his silent funeral march. (Bilhaud was not the first to create an all-black artwork: for example,
Robert Fludd
Robert Fludd, also known as Robertus de Fluctibus (17 January 1574 – 8 September 1637), was a prominent English Paracelsian physician with both scientific and occult interests. He is remembered as an astrologer, mathematician, cosmol ...
published an image of "Darkness" in his 1617 book on the origin and structure of the cosmos; and
Bertall published his black ''Vue de La Hogue (effet de nuit)'' in 1843.) However, Allais's activity bears more similarity to 20th century
Dada
Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...
, or
Neo-Dada
Neo-Dada was an art movement with audio, visual and literary manifestations that had similarities in method or intent with earlier Dada artwork. It sought to close the gap between art and daily life, and was a combination of playfulness, iconoclas ...
, and particularly the works of the
Fluxus
Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers, and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental performance art, art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finishe ...
group of the 1960s, than to 20th century monochrome painting since
Malevich.
While consuming absinthe at café tables, Allais wrote 1600 newspaper and magazine pieces, and co-founded the Club of the Hydropaths (those allergic to water). He was a journalist, columnist and editor as well.
A film based on his novel ''L'Affaire Blaireau'' appeared in 1958 as ''
Neither Seen Nor Recognized ''. Earlier versions with the same title as the original novel appeared in
1923
In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...
and
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
.
Miles Kington
Miles Beresford Kington (13 May 1941 – 30 January 2008) was a British journalist, musician (a double bass player for Instant Sunshine and other groups) and broadcaster. He is also credited with the invention of Franglais, a fictional language ...
, humorous writer and musician, translated some of Allais' pieces into idiomatic English as ''The World of Alphonse Allais'' (UK). In the United States,
Doug Skinner has translated sixteen books by Allais, including ''Captain Cap'' and his only novel.
Honfleur has a street, ''rue Alphonse Allais'', and a school, ''Collège Alphonse Allais'', named for him. There is a ''Place Alphonse-Allais'' in the
20th arrondissement of Paris. The ''Académie Alphonse-Allais'' has awarded an annual prize, the
''Prix Alphonse-Allais'', in his honor since 1954.
Discovery

In 2018, the French expert Johann Naldi, a specialist in nineteenth-century art, discovered among a previously unpublished set of seventeen works of
Incoherents ''"Des souteneurs encore dans la force de l'âge et le ventre dans l'herbe boivent de l'absinthe"'', consisting of a green carriage curtain embellished with a cartel with a title. Executed before 1897, when Allais was compiling his monochroidal experiments in his
Album primo-avrilesque, this work is the only monochrome by Alphonse Allais identified to date, classified as a National Treasure on May 7, 2021 by decision of the Ministry of Culture.
In February 2024, the work made its world premiere in the exhibition "Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Parigi 1881-1901" at the
Palazzo Roverella, in Rovigo, Italy.
Museum
The Alphonse Allais Museum, also called Le Petit Musée, in Honfleur, claiming to be the smallest museum in France (8 m
2), consists of a small collection of "rarities", including the skull of
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
at age seventeen and a true piece of a False Cross (''cf.''
True Cross
According to Christian tradition, the True Cross is the real instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, cross on which Jesus of Nazareth was Crucifixion of Jesus, crucified.
It is related by numerous historical accounts and Christian mythology, legends ...
), as well as inventions such as a special Chinese teacup made for left-handed people (cf. ''
chawan''), blue, white, and red
starch
Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diet ...
to keep flags flying when there is no wind, black
confetti for widows, and so on.
The museum was founded on the second floor in Allais' parents' pharmacy in 1999 by the owner of the pharmacy, and moved to a new location in 2019 (rue des Petites boucheries).
Organizations
Two non-profit organizations celebrate Allais:
* The Association des Amis d'Alphonse Allais (AAAA), founded in 1934, manages the Allais Museum and promotes young humorists who follow in the spirit of Allais.
* The Académie Alphonse Allais, created in 1954, Allais' 100th birthday, by
Henri Jeanson
Henri Jules Louis Jeanson (6 March 1900 – 6 November 1970) was a French writer and journalist. He was a "satrap" in the "College of 'Pataphysics".
As a journalist before World War II
Jeanson was born on 6 March 1900 in Paris. His fathe ...
, like the
Académie française
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
, names new members annually and sponsors the "Alphonse Allais" literary prize.
Principal works

*', 1891
*', 1892
*', 1895
*', 1898
*''L'Affaire Blaireau'' (The Blaireau Case), 1899
*' (literally ''Let's not hit each other''), 1900
English translations
;Published in the US
*''Feeding Time''. Translated by
Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, , 2025)
*''My Rent Is Due!''. Translated by
Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, , 2024)
*''We Are Not Sheep''. Translated by
Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, , 2023)
*''Let's Not Hit Each Other''. Translated by
Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, , 2023)
*''Loves, Delights, & Organs''. Translated by
Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, , 2022)
*''2 + 2 = 5''. Translated by
Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, , 2021)
*''Pink and Apple-Green''. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, , 2020)
*''The Alphonse Allais Reader''. Compiled and translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, , 2018)
*''No Bile!''. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, , 2018)
*''Masks''. Translated & illustrated by Norman Conquest (Absurdist Texts & Documents #1), , 2018)
*''Long Live Life!''. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, , 2017)
*''I Am Sarcey''. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, , 2017)
*''Double Over''. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, , 2016)
*''The Blaireau Affair''. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, , 2015)
*''The Squadron's Umbrella''. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, , 2015)
*''Selected Plays of Alphonse Allais''. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, , 2014)
*''Captain Cap: His Adventures, His Ideas, His Drinks''. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, , 2013)
*''Captain Cap: Vol. I''. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Documents Series No. 11, 2013)
*''Captain Cap: Vol. II: The Apparent Symbiosis Between the Boa and Giraffe''. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Documents Series No. 14, 2013)
*''Captain Cap: Vol. III: The Antifilter & Other Inventions''. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Documents Series No. 17, 2013)
*''Captain Cap: Vol. IV: The Sanatorium of the Future''. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Documents Series No. 20, 2013)
*''How I Became an Idiot by Francisque Sarcey (Alphonse Allais)''. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Documents - Interim Edition No. 00, 2013)
*''The Adventures of Captain Cap''. Translated by
Brian Stableford
Brian Michael Stableford (25 July 1948 – 24 February 2024) was a British academic, critic and science fiction writer who published a hundred novels and over a hundred volumes of translations. His earlier books were published under the name Br ...
(Black Coat Press, , 2013)
Notes
References
External links
Association des Amis d'Alphonse AllaisAcadémie Alphonse Allais*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allais, Alphonse
1854 births
1905 deaths
Fumism
People from Honfleur
Writers from Normandy
19th-century French poets
French humorists
French satirists
Minimalist composers
French male poets
19th-century French male writers