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J. J. Grandville (Jean-Ignace-Isidore Gérard)

Study for “Ne la trouvez-vous pas jolie?” (“Don’t you find her pretty?”),, 1842

Now On View

Description

Maker

Title

Study for “Ne la trouvez-vous pas jolie?” (“Don’t you find her pretty?”),

Year

1842

Medium

Graphite on wove paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Supports

Dimensions

27.1 x 21.3 cm (10 11/16 x 8 3/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed in graphite in LR: "J. Granville"

Type

Credit

Museum Membership Fund

Object Number

67.068

About

Preparatory drawing for the wood engraving published in Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux (1840-42).

Signed in graphite in LR: "J. Granville"

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Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Drawing Closer

March 12 - September 4, 2022

Stepping forth in a feathered hat, ermine-trimmed capelet, and dainty shoes is a hybrid creature with the head of a penguin and the body of a human. She is a penguin princess, one of many fantastical characters J. J. Grandville invented for Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux (Public and Private Life of Animals), a satirical book that poked fun at public figures, social norms, and political events by depicting animals with human characteristics. The authors chose “the cover of animals” with the hope that their criticism “could become more general . . . more dignified, and less hurtful.”

Draw Me a Story

April 14 - July 23, 2006

Grandville was an important illustrator of serial images recounting French middle-class social life and restrained satire. His drawings were reproduced as wood engravings; his fluid sketches were not drawn directly on the block but rather copied freehand by the carvers. This drawing is a study for a printed series with hand coloring, Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux (Scenes from the public and private lives of animals), which placed bizarre amalgamations of humans and animals in bourgeois social situations. By using such fantastic creatures, Grandville avoided overt critique of specific individuals, while commenting on the corruption and vice of contemporary social life.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Study for “Ne la trouvez-vous pas jolie?” (“Don’t you find her pretty?”), with the accession number of 67.068. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.