TARZAN, 1969
Collage. Dimensions unknown.
Provenance
Untraced.
Exhibited
Bristol, Bristol Arts Centre, 1970, No. 57.
Newlyn, Newlyn Art Gallery, 1971, No. 25.
Penzance, Newlyn Orion Gallery, 1976, No. 73.
The fictional character, Tarzan, first appeared in a pulp magazine in 1912 in a story by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Subsequently, he has appeared in over two dozen further novels, forty films, hundred of comic books and merchandising beyond measure. Tarzan, the son of an English autocratic family, was born in tropical Africa where his parents died. The year-old infant was adopted by a huge she-ape and brought up as part of the ape band. His inherent reasoning ability enabled him to acquire language skills and to rise above his companions. He eventually met a white girl and returned to civilisation. Aside from being an adventure story, the novel raised the question of nature/nurture: how far our behaviour is governed by inheritance and how much by our own efforts and environment. The theme of feral children is well known from literature (e.g. Romulus and Remus) and from science (e.g. the wild boy of Averon).