21st C., Expressionism, Animal Painting, Auzoux's Troglodytes Gorilla's

Around the middle of the 19th century, the missionary Thomas Savage and the anatomist Jeffries Wyman described a new animal species – the Troglodytes Gorilla – in their article for the Boston Society for Natural History Journal. The French naturalist and anatomical model maker, Dr Louis Auzoux, was eager to dissect and research that gorilla and made this known to the French emperor, Napoléon III. The latter arranged for a specimen, preserved in alcohol, to be transferred from Gabon to France in 1863. Auzoux carried out the dissection in the amphitheatre of the Ecole de Médecine in Paris in the presence of the emperor and his entourage. Later, Auzoux made a three-dimensional didactic model of the gorilla, using paper, clay and cork. The model was what is called ‘anatomic plastique. This means that it was made to be disassembled into different parts like an accurate dissection. It was a helpful aid for university professors and students. Dominique Yee (b. 1960), a Flemish painter with Chinese roots, was inspired by Auzoux’s model of the Troglodytes Gorilla and made four acrylic paintings of it. She focused on the face of the gorilla and tried to catch the expression of the animal in broad, accurate brushstrokes. The attractiveness of her work lies in the directness.