Gulliver Awed by Three Giant Beggars in the Land of Brobdingnag
1862
Medium
pen and brown ink with watercolor and gouache over graphite on wove paper, laid down
Dimensions
sheet: 23.2 x 16.4 cm (9 1/8 x 6 7/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Accession Number
2009.26.1
Art Historical Context
In the whimsical yet satirical world of Jonathan Swift's *Gulliver's Travels*, land of Brobdingnag with giants, and Paul Gavarni's 1862 drawingGulliver Awed by Giant Beggars in Land of Brobding* captures this surreal moment with vivid flair. The French illustrator, renowned for his sharp social commentary in periodicals like *Le Charivari*, reimagines Gulliver as a tiny figure dwarfed by ragged colossal beggars, their immense forms looming in exaggerated scale. Created late in Gavarni's career (1804–1866), this work reflects the 19th-century fascination with literary illustration, blending hum...
About the Artist
Paul Gavarni
Paul Gavarni, born Sulpice Guillaume Chevalier on January 13, 1804, in Paris to a cooper father from Burgundy and mother Marie-Monique Thiémet—whose brother, painter Guillaume Thiémet, served as his godfather—began his career far from the art world. As a youth, he worked in a machine factory and studied mechanical drawing at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers in 1818, followed by evening classe...