G. Cervelli Drunkards French Satirical Caricature (Têtes d'ivrognes)

An original 1910s pen & ink drawing, G. Cervelli, Drunkards French Satirical Caricature (Têtes d'ivrognes).

A fabulous comic drawing in red ink by French cartoonist and artist G. Cervelli (fl.1910–1920). Titled 'Têtes d'ivrognes' or 'Drunkards', Cervelli shows a melange of aged caricatural characters in varied states of inebriation and physical decline—menacing, comic and tragic all at once. Cervelli no doubt draws on the drinking subjects of Honoré Daumier, who explored the existential tragedy wrapped up in the convivial alcoholism of the French working classes in the 19th century, and in particular his etching of The Four Ages of a Drinker, a parody on the four ages of man.

In pen and ink with watercolour wash and graphite underdrawings. There is a partial graphite sketch on the verso.