Émile Guillonnet was a student of Lionel Royer and F. Cormon at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He worked for various illustrated magazines and exhibited at the Salon of the Société des Artistes Français in Paris from 1887. He was awarded a silver medal in 1900 and was also made an officer of the Légion d'Honneur. He illustrated La Mule du Pape (The Pope's Mule) (1909) and L'Arlésienne (The Girl from Arles) (1911) by Alphonse Daudet; Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc) (1912) by F. Funck-Brentano; and Rolla (1912) by Alfred de Musset.
Museum and Gallery Holdings
Bordeaux: The Grape Harvest
Dijon: The Game of Tennis
Nantes: Returning from the Market
Paris (MAMVP): Bringing in the Livestock in the Evening; The Shepherd
Tourcoing: Shade and Sun; Provence