Jean-J Grandville
(
Nancy
1803 -
Vanves
1847 )
Le Royaume des marionettes, 1843-1844
Ink, pencil and watercolor on paper
172 x 161 mm
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Provenance:
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Jean-Claude Vrain, Paris
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Literature:
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J.J.Grandville, Un autre monde”, H. Fournier, Paris, 1844, p. 52 illustrated
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Artist Biography:
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This gallery with Jean Ignace Isidore (J.J.) Grandville’s drawings for Gulliver’s Travels sets the tone for Museum to Scale 1/7. In the “Voyage to Lilliput” chapter, Swift subtly works to get the reader to share his ironic standpoint, to suspend disbelief and accept the impossible, accomplishing this in part by grace of his detailed description of the so perfectly rendered miniature world, and by having the ‘giant’ Gulliver maneuver with the necessary care amongst the small beings and subjects. Grandville is known as a vivid caricaturist of the 19th century with a satirical humor. His ability for political provocation made his work much in demand. He worked in a wide variety of formats, from his first job illustrating the parlor game Old Maid, to illustrated newspaper strips of which he was a master. His illustrations for Le Diable à Paris ("The Devil In Paris"; 1844–46) were used by Walter Benjamin for his study of that city as an urban organism. But perhaps his most original contribution to the illustrated book form was L'Autre Monde, which approaches the status of pure surrealism, despite being conceived in a pre-Freudian age. Leading members of the Surrealist movement such as André Breton and Georges Bataille recognized in Grandville a significant precursor and inspiration for the movement.
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