Teasing the Monkey by Paul Charles Chocarne Moreau

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Paul Charles has been known his charming, adorable and funny paintings of young kids conducting pranks on their friends and having quite a fun. He was a french painter in 19^th century and most of his paintings were based on those Parisian boys who were poor, who were working at very early age and it seem weird nowadays but in old time small children used to work in factories. So, his choice of young apprentice baker is perfectly fine in his own time – who appears from time to time in his paintings.

Now, the current painting depicts the young baker again. After appearing in many paintings, a defined characteristic of the baker-boy starts to appear in our mind. He is the normal boy of the 19^th century Paris and could be used as a mascot of the time. He has all the characteristics of the time. He works, he have friends, he teases animals, he has been pranked upon by his friends, he is poor and totally looks happy with his life even after the difficulties he might have been facing. That was the normal life for a boy back in the days. In fact, we can call him lucky that he dosen’t have work in the heavy metal factories.

Though, not every boy in the town was in a factory. Some born with a silver spoon were enjoying their wealth in the aristocratic palaces, when some poors were self employed – just like the boy with a wooden box and the monkey. Apparently, he earns his meal by entertaining people with his pet monkey’s stunts and charming gimmicks. And when the boy with monkey reached against the baker’s shop, the young baker couldn’t stop him from having some fun – by spraying some water on monkey. Monkey has gone furious by the act and its owner is protecting himself from the water. But, we can safely assume that they are good acquaintances as the monkey-owner might be crossing by his shop everyday.

Paul Moreau’s paintings are often amusing and enjoyable as you can understand by watching his oeuvre.