The Hunter and the Elephants 1719

Curator: This is Claude Gillot's "The Hunter and the Elephants," a small etching. The action seems so frenetic. Editor: The crosshatching really emphasizes the weight of the elephants and the chaos of the hunt. It’s all about the process of mark-making here. Curator: Right. This scene likely draws on the common early modern trope of the exoticized "other" and speaks to the colonial gaze. Editor: And the use of etching – readily reproducible – speaks to the commodification of this exotic imagery. Curator: Seeing it through the lens of postcolonial theory really forces us to question the narrative being presented. Editor: Thinking about Gillot's workshop practice, we can see how such a small, repeatable image could circulate these ideas widely. Curator: Indeed, it pushes us to consider the politics of representation in 18th-century France. Editor: A simple print, yet dense with layers of meaning and making.