Henri Caïn
1857–1937 · French dramatist and librettist who also trained as a painter
Henri Caïn (Paris, 1857 – 1937) was a French dramatist and librettist, best known for his work in opera and ballet, although he also trained as a painter. The son of the sculptor Auguste Cain and brother of the painter Georges Cain, he studied painting in the studios of Jean-Paul Laurens and Édouard Detaille, two painters active in the French art scene of his time.
His connection to the visual arts was close. He is described as an admirer of contemporary painters and sculptors such as Antonio de La Gandara and Jean Carriès, and he moved in the circle of Edouard de La Gandara. His career, however, turned mainly to the stage and to music. From 1893 until his death he wrote more than forty librettos for leading composers of the Parisian Belle Epoque, including Jules Massenet, Benjamin Godard and Umberto Giordano.
Today he is remembered more for his librettos than for any painting documented in the sources consulted, though his training and milieu place him among the artists who linked painting, sculpture and theatrical spectacle in his era.