Animal Spirit (pink)
Maker
(artist)
born 1960
born 1960
Title
Animal Spirit (pink)
Date of Production
2016
Dimensions
Height: 63.5 cm (sheet size)
Width: 77.3 cm (sheet size)
Width: 77.3 cm (sheet size)
Accession Number
G.2017.XX.7
Mode of Acquisition
Charles Booth-Clibborn, gift, 2017
Credit
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Copyright
© Grayson Perry and Paragon | Contemporary Editions Ltd.
Location
Not currently on display
Keywords
Label Text
Although best known for his ceramics, Grayson Perry is also an accomplished printmaker. The fantastical beast in this etching - half-bear and half-bull - embodies the irrationality at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis. The beast's tangled innards allude to the ancient theory of the four humours, in which emotions or faculties were located in different organs. As Perry notes of the male-dominated financial sector, 'There seemed to be an idea... the market was entirely rational but we found out in the crash that it was just as prone to emotional weather as any human system.'
Perry printed the etching on different coloured papers. The use of pink paper here imitates the colour of the Financial Times, Britain's leading business newspaper.
Perry printed the etching on different coloured papers. The use of pink paper here imitates the colour of the Financial Times, Britain's leading business newspaper.
Provenance
Paragon Press; gift to the Samuel Courtauld Trust by Charles Booth-Clibborn, 2017
Exhibition History
From the Baroque to Today: New Acquisitions of Works on Paper, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 23/02/2024-27/05/2024
Information on this object may be incomplete and will be updated as research progresses. We are particularly committed to addressing any discriminatory or offensive language and ideas that might be present in our records. To help improve this record, and to enquire about images of The Courtauld Gallery Collection, please email gallery.collectionsonline@courtauld.ac.uk. Find out more about using and licensing our images.
____________________________