Date unknown, Etching, Final state, 240 mm x 305 mm. Signed, Numbered 2/35 on printing paper with BFK Rives watermark.
Is it really a taxidermist’s shop? True, we can see a stuffed and mounted leopard and stoat, and even an elephant’s foot used as an umbrella stand, but the foxes and, owls and racoons at the top of the picture look very much alive. And what about the lion? Balkanyi made many studies of the lions at the zoo where she worked, noting their expressions. She has made this one look thoughtful and sad, but certainly not stuffed. He is alive. And what are we to make of the armchair behind him? Pushing back from its claw-like foot, it looks more ready to pounce than any of the creatures in the shop. The picture’s title is just as enigmatic Les animaux naturalisés (stuffed animals) literally translates into English as tamed or domesticated animals. None of the creatures in the picture look either tamed or domesticated, except perhaps for the lady behind the counter.
