Artist
Jean-Baptiste Adanson
Jean-Baptiste Adanson is an Orientalism artist. 1 work is cataloged here, principally at Victoria and Albert Museum.
Jean-Baptiste Adanson spent years chasing the Gerbouh, a giant Nile rat that barely anyone outside Senegal had ever drawn right. His watercolors hide in plain sight, each whisker and paw placed like a secret someone meant to keep. Why bother?
Because these sheets are the only close-ups we have of a creature that was already vanishing by 1790. Search for Rat d’Egypte apellé en Arabe Gérbouh; the yellowed paper and tiny wet brushstrokes will tell you more than any stuffed museum case could.
Works by Jean-Baptiste Adanson
Collections represented
