Merveilleuses aventures de Jeroboam Blagforsen / Wonderlijke voorvallen van Jeroboam Blagforsen 1833 - 1911

This is a colour lithograph titled 'Merveilleuses aventures de Jeroboam Blagforsen / Wonderlijke voorvallen van Jeroboam Blagforsen', by Brepols & Dierckx Zoon. The print presents a series of comical, sequential images, reminiscent of early comic strips, arranged in a grid. The simple colour palette, dominated by reds, yellows, and greens, gives the print a playful, almost childlike quality. However, the organisation into a grid is a structuring device. The grid gives a sense of rationality. The narrative is broken into discrete units but the order and layout of the images destabilises any single meaning. The subject, Jeroboam Blagforsen, appears in various outlandish scenarios, which challenge the viewer's sense of reality. We see him flying, falling, and interacting with celestial bodies, blurring the boundaries between the terrestrial and the fantastical. This can be interpreted as a comment on the era's fascination with exploration, invention and the disruption of traditional views.