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Alfred Grévin - Original 19th Century Graphite Drawing. Laid down on backing paper. Inscribed with the artist's name on the reverse. Unsigned. The upper left corner has been previously torn off and repaired. Tiny loss at the lower left edge.Alfred Grévin (1827 –1892) was a 19th-century caricaturist, best known during his lifetime for his caricature silhouettes of contemporary Parisian women. He was also a sculptor, cartoonist, and designed costumes and sets for popular theatre. He studied natural sciences and drawing at the College of Tonnerre. His first job was as an apprentice draughtsman for Paris à Lyon à la Méditerranée railways. In 1853 he moved to Paris and produced cartoons for the service of the newspaper Le Gaulois. He then went on to work for Le Journal amusant and Le Charivari. He also worked as a theater costume designer, and wrote plays. In 1869 he founded l'Almanach des Parisiennes with Louis Adrien Huart, and in 1875 Grévin designed the 673 costumes for Jacques Offenbach's opéra-féerie Le voyage dans la lune, and later for Charles Lecocq's opera comique The Daughter of Madame Angot. In 1881, Meyer had the idea, along with Alfred Grévin, to represent the personalities that made the front page of the news section as wax mannequins, which allowed visitors – in an era before photography was used in the press – to put a face to the names in the news. This was the beginning of the Musée Grévin, which opened its doors on 5 June 1882 and swiftly became successful.
