The Lady Charmer

With "The Lady Charmer" (1878), Émile Reynaud pre-empted Étienne-Jules Marey’s more celebrated chronophotographic gun studies of the 1880s, later collected in Marey’s anthology "The Flight of Birds" (1890). Avian flight proved capable of delivering visual poetry and thus attracted artists focused on moving images from the start. Here, Reynaud used the female figure as a pivot to enhance the movement of birds, creating a musical dance that impresses in its beauty. The lady not only performs a ritual with the animals, but also allows the birds to upstage her. On this occasion, artistic vision overtakes technological novelty, allowing animation to stand independently as a form of art.