"Here is one who mends by nicely biting" from Scenes from the Private and Public Life of Animals 1832 - 1852

Editor: This lithograph, a print actually, is titled "Here is one who mends by nicely biting" from Scenes from the Private and Public Life of Animals created sometime between 1832 and 1852 by J. J. Grandville. There's a real domestic feel, almost a caricature of everyday life, with a rather serious mouse-like creature. What exactly is going on here? Curator: It’s more than just domestic, wouldn't you say? It's got this uncanny valley vibe because of how human the mouse appears, doesn't it? Grandville was amazing at creating these bizarre worlds that were simultaneously humorous and deeply unsettling. He invites us to think about the animal within ourselves. Editor: The animal within, yes, like a kind of dark mirror. Curator: Exactly. He presents a reflection, but a distorted one. Note the detail, a meticulous Romantic style. The textures, the shadows. What do you think that patched-up kettle and the bird in the cage might symbolize? Editor: Restriction perhaps, a critique of societal norms? Is the bird like the woman mouse, trapped? Curator: Precisely! Grandville used animals to critique society in ways that might’ve been dangerous to do directly. The anthropomorphism is not just for laughs. It is, rather, deeply critical, you know. Romanticism with a very sharp edge! Editor: So it is both beautiful and critical, light and dark… making us laugh but also question. Curator: And isn't that the point of truly great art? The way it lingers and teases out these thoughts, playing in the shadowy spaces of our minds. I tell you, I never look at these scenes and come away unchanged, do you?