A parrot’s head on human shoulders: square format close detail of hand-tinted image of birdman in top hat and military coat, a 19th century satirical wood engraving by Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard (1803-1847), better known as Grandville. From ‘Scenes of the Private and Public Life of Animals’ (Paris, 1842), in which he depicted many more animals in human dress.
Paris, Île-de-France, France: a man wearing a military coat and top hat but with a parrot’s face and beak … square format close detail of a bizarre creation by the early-19th century French satirist, caricaturist and illustrator best known as Grandville. This artwork appeared in Paris in 1842 as one of the 320 Grandville wood engravings illustrating ‘Scènes de la Vie privée et publique des animaux’ (Scenes of the Private and Public Life of Animals), a compilation of articles and short stories published as a bestselling two-volume set. The book sold 25,000 copies, at least 20,000 more than first edition works by one of its other contributors, Honoré de Balzac. Grandville was the pseudonym of Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard, born in Nancy in 1803, a prolific radical artist famous for his political cartoons and caricatures. He engaged in satirical republican campaigns against the Bourbon monarchy and fought official attempts to intimidate and censor him. Grandville was also a keen social commentator who often satirised the French authorities and their bourgeois supporters by portraying them as animals. Long after his early death in 1847, Grandville’s blend of human and animal forms was hailed as a key influence of Surrealism, the artistic movement founded after the First World War. Grandville has been called “the first star of French caricature’s great age” and has also prompted the comment: “His perverse vision sought the monster in everyone.” The target of Grandville’s satire in this image is more obscure than in others, with the caption of the complete image recording “le brutal directeur” shouting at “ambulants” (itinerants) to get going or move on. The braided frock coat worn by the parrot-man perhaps suggests a thinly-veiled attack on an official such as the head of the Guarde nationale, France’s military and police reserve force.
Size: 3223px × 3223px
Location: Paris, Île-de-France, France.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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