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Journey Through the Psychedelic Worlds of Grandville
The French artist lampooned society to expose truths
Satirists often express views most dare not say out loud. Their pens skewer the status quo, dominant ideas, or popular practices. They can make us rethink our relationships to the world.
Some, like Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard (aka Grandville), even influence future generations of artists. His surreal Un Autre Monde spares no one from criticism while it takes the reader to fictitious worlds.
A step towards the page
Grandville made a name for himself with the work Les Métamorphoses du jour (1829), in which animal characters have all the accoutrements of human societies.
This of course gave him the opportunity to lay bare the structures of human communities. But, since the characters were cute animals, it shielded him from some reproaches. Author Annie Renonciat described the paradox of his work as:
…fictional beings, lies dressed in truth…
The whimsical fiction softens the sting of Grandville’s jibes. Illustrated works such as this were…
