- Venue
- The Long Gallery at the Tron Theatre
- Starts
- Tuesday, August 4, 2009
- Ends
- Saturday, September 5, 2009
- Address
- 63 Trongate Glasgow G1 5HB
- Location
- Scotland
A pictorial homage to the ‘educated’ animal performers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by Sharon Whyte. When news of the demise of a popular performer of the day, the Learned Pig, became public knowledge in November 1788, it was not through word of mouth but via an obituary in the Gazetteer – such was the widespread appeal of this oddity of popular entertainment, the ‘educated’ or ‘learned’ animal. The various claims represented on playbills included their ability to tell the time, read and spell, perform arithmetic and do tricks with cards.These creatures, which ranged from pigs and dogs to geese and sparrows, treaded the boards from the sixteenth century onwards, reaching the height of their popularity in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when even such luminaries as Samuel Johnson were moved to pass comment on them. The surviving playbills, reviews, posters, songs and books that relate their history form the backbone of this series of screenprints. The intended aim is to convey the playfulness and eagerness with which such entertainments were both presented and received in their time, and to celebrate a unique piece of magic history using colourful imagery mixed with original ephemera. The artist would like to thank The British Library, Eddie Dawes and Ricky Jay for their kind permission in the use of reproduced images. www.sharonwhyte.co.uk
