Jenny the Orangutan and Orangutans in Art

London Zoo is the worlds oldest scientific zoo, opened in 1828. It is sited in Regent's Park, and home to thousands of different species.

In its history it has housed many famous animals:

Guy the gorilla

Obaysch the Hippo

Goldie the golden eagle

Winnie the Pooh - a black bear deposited at the zoo in 1914 by a Canadian Lieutenant.

Eros the snowy owl, who died in 1993

Pipaluk the polar bear who was born at the zoo on Dec 1st 1967

Jumbo the elephant

Belinda the spider - a red-kneed bird eating spider

Josephine the hornbill. She was the oldest animal in the zoo for many years. She died in 1998 aged 53.

And Lady Jane or Jenny the Orangutan.

London Zoo also housed Quagga, a zebra like equid. They became extinct in 1883, thousands of quagga once grazed the plains of Africa and today they highlight the importance of wildlife management.

These pictures are from the London Zoo website.

Jenny the Orangutan

Jenny the orangutan was brought over from Borneo by a returning sailor. She had a very short life by orangutan lifespan, she was born in 1834 and died in 1839.

On 28th of March 1838, Charles Darwin first saw Jenny. He wrote:

"Man in his arrogance thinks himself a great work, worthy the interposition of a deity ( a god ). More humble and I believe to be true to consider himself created from animals."

Darwin's notes on Jenny are kept at the Darwin Archive at Cambridge University Library. This inspired the film, Creation (2009).

Jenny was kept in the heated giraffe house and attracted crowds of people. She was made to wear clothes and drink tea from a cup.

Queen Victoria first saw Jenny on 27th May 1842, she said Jenny was "frightful and painfully and disgracefully human".

The Penny Magazine was an illustrated British magazine aimed at the working class, published every Saturday from 31st March 1832 to 31st October 1845.

So Penny had a short and probably not very pleasant life. I guess she was kept on her own, with no other members of her species. It is important for most, if not all animals, to have company of their own species preferably.

Orangutan Facts

They are the largest arboreal mammal (tree dwelling). Their name means "Man of the Forest".

They have distinctive orange/red fur and long powerful arms and grasping hands and feet, used to move through the branches of trees. They have 5 fingers, thumb and fingernails.

They learn what they need to know from Mum. They stay about 8 years with Mum and are slow breeders, having one offspring every 7 years.

They have 96.4% of genes shared with humans and are highly intelligent. They use tools.

There are 104,700 Bornean Orangutans

13,846 Sumatran Orangutans

800 Tapanuli Orangutans left. They are critically endangered.

They lead solitary existances and live on wild fruits eg lychees, mangosteens and figs. They make nests in trees to sleep at night.

Flanged males have prominent cheek pads called flanges and make calls using a throat sac.

They are only found 'in the wild' in Borneo and Sumatra.

Their main threats are:

illegal hunting

habitat loss - from clearing for palm oil plantations, illegal logging and forest fires.

Conservationists are trying now to join isolated communities by restoring forest corridors.

Orangutans in Art

Amongst these, I have just chosen a few colourful or stylised pictures of orangutans. They seem to lend themselves aesthetically to drawing and painting because of their colour, which can be translated by the artist to be a bit brighter ( like I do myself in my orangutan tiles). Also their hair is very nice to draw and distinctive, like their colouring.

However a very serious conservation issue lies beneath. Most of the art is colourful, yet the orangutan appear very soleful, maybe a product of understanding more than we think. very in They are very intelligent and share. most (96.4%) of their Dna with us.

Person of the Forest refers to the orangutan also know as 'Man of the Forest'.

The above is a print by Daniel Long.

This is a mixed media Orangutan portrait by Josh Gluckstein. It is made with recycled cardboard and paper. I am just about to embark on a 2D collage featuring orangutans and Borneo.

This is by Steve Morvell. Most, if not all, of the artists are concerned about portraying the orangutan from a conservation concern. As well as the beauty of the animal. This artist says "I hope my art will reach you wherever you are so you can see what we have before its gone.

A lithograph print

Title: The Orangutan Motherhood by Chiki 1901, acrylic color on canvas. The offspring stay with their mother for 8 years, so a close bond.

Title: Incredible colorful World. "Colors have the power to evoke emotions, memories, and even influence our behaviour."

Sumatran Orangutans by Hans Droog.

After this I add examples of my own painting on tiles, which were then sold to raise money for orangutan rescue. Some were given out by the International Animal Rescue representative for the good people who raised money for orangutan rescue, in "Cakes for Apes".

I made these while on the MA course. "seat at the table" refers to animal activists plea to be given a seat at the Cop 28 conference. They were not represented.

The 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC Cop 29) will be held from 11 to 22 November in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The glaze could have worked better on these.