Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard

Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard (September 13, 1803 – March 17, 1847), French caricaturist, generally known by the pseudonym of J.J. Grandville

Life and work

He was born at Nancy, in north eastern France, to an artistic and theatrical family. The name, "Grandville", was his grandparents' professional stage name. Grandville received his first instruction in drawing from his father, a painter of miniatures. At the age of twenty-one he moved to Paris, and soon afterwards published a collection of lithographs entitled "Les Tribulations de la petite proprieté". He followed this with "Les Plaisirs de toutdge and La Sibylle des salons"; but the work which first established his fame was "Les Métamorphoses du jour" (1828–29), a series of seventy scenes in which individuals with the bodies of men and faces of animals are made to play a human comedy. These drawings are remarkable for the extraordinary skill with which human characteristics are represented in animal facial features.

The success of this work led to his being engaged as artistic contributor to various periodicals, such as "Le Silhouette", "L'Artiste", "La Caricature", "Le Charivari"; and his political caricatures which were characterized by marvelous fertility of satirical humour, soon came to enjoy a general popularity.After the reinstitution of prior censorship of caricature in 1835, Grandville turned almost exclusively to book illustration, supplying illustrations for various standard works, such as the songs of Béranger, the fables of La Fontaine, "Don Quixote", "Gulliver's Travels", "Robinson Crusoe". He also continued to issue various lithographic collections, among which may be mentioned "La Vie privée et publique des animaux", "Les Cent Proverbes", "L'Autre Monde" and "Les Fleurs animées".

Though the designs of Grandville are occasionally unnatural and absurd, they usually display keen analysis of character and marvellous inventive ingenuity, and his humour is always tempered and refined by delicacy of sentiment and a vein of sober thoughtfulness. He died on March 17, 1847.

A short notice of Gérard, under the name of Grandville, is contained in Théophile Gautier's "Portraits contemporains". See also Charles Blanc, "Grandville" (Paris, 1855).

Cultural reference

The rock band Queen used part of his artwork for the cover and backcover of their 1991 album "Innuendo", as well as their singles from that album.

A tarot deck, The Fantastic Menagerie Tarot, based on Grandville's illustrations, was published in 2006 by Magic Realist Press.

References

*cite book |last=Appelbaum |first=Stanley |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=Bizarreries & fantasies of Grandville |origdate= |origyear=1974 |edition= |series= |date= |year=1987 |month= |publisher=Dover (reprint) |location= |language= |isbn=0-486-2291-2 |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages= |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote=266 illustrations from "Un autre mode" and "Les animaux".

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