Wallflower being carried away. Grandville flower-lady engraving c1902.

by Grandville, Jean-Jacques

Alheli (Spanish for Wallflower), carried off a wall.

Colour-printed engraving highlighted with gum arabic after a drawing by French illustrator and caricaturist Jean-Ignace-Isidore Gérard (1803-1847) for Les Fleurs Animées (Animated Flowers) first published in Paris circa 1847. This engraving was published in Spain c1902.

From an early age Jean-Jacques was tutored in drawing by his father, miniature-artist Jean-Baptiste Gérard. Jean-Jacques adopted the name 'Grandville' from his father’s actor parents who were known as 'Gérard de Grandville'. Flowers were given human characters, that ranged from charming to gruesome, depending on Grandville's state of mind. Grandville acquired fame by adding animal and bird heads to people's bodies, and as here, by portraying flowers as ladies with personalities. His 'animations' were so popular, that they were reissued a number of times in the United States, Belgium, Germany and Spain.

This wonderful little engraving is 180 x 120mm (7 x 4.75 inches). It is currently mounted between antique-white boards, and covered with cellophane for protection until framed.The external mount for framing measures 280 x 240mm (11 x 9.1/2 inches).