Exhibition
Biting Wit and Brazen Folly
British Satirical Prints, 1780s–1830s
A riot of color and a roar of laughter
Printed satirical caricatures were inescapable in London during the 1700s and 1800s. Often lighthearted and cheeky upon first glance, the images could also be mulled over and picked apart at leisure. A bawdy scene or grotesque facial expression instantly amused, while closer study revealed deeper literary or political references. Whether a fashionable dandy or a poor chimney sweep, no one escaped the scrutiny of caricaturists.
This exhibition reveals the widespread appeal of caricature in Georgian England and demonstrates the ways in which such images teased and provoked audiences. Featuring over sixty brightly colored etchings from the Museum's large collection of British satirical prints, it presents images of the everyday with a riot of color and a roar of laughter.
Preview the Exhibition
Connoisseurs
Thomas Rowlandson
The Chamber of Genius
Thomas Rowlandson
Very Slippery Weather
James Gillray
Bassoon with French Horn Accompaniment
Thomas Rowlandson
The Gout
James Gillray
A Little Rheum-atick
William Heath
Showing the Difference between Beasts and Babies
William Heath
Summer Amusement at Margate, or A Peep at Mermaids
Thomas Rowlandson
Life in London
Dandy Pickpockets, Diving
Isaac Robert Cruikshank
Advantages of Modern Education
Charles Williams
Going It By Steam
Robert Seymour
A Wellington Boot, or the Head of the Armye
William Heath
Chimney Sweeper
George Cruikshank
Fashion Foibles
Following the Fashion
James Gillray
A Buck and a Doe
William Heath
La Walse/ Le Bon Genre, 1810
James Gillray
Lessons for Shaving
George Moutard Woodward
Can't You Look the Other Way Now
William Heath
Fiendish Ailments & Dubious Doctors
Dropsy Courting Consumption
Thomas Rowlandson
The Blue Devils
George Cruikshank
The Amputation
Thomas Rowlandson
The Cholic
George Cruikshank
Health and hygiene in London in the late 1700s and early 1800s were dismal. In a city lacking effective medicine and an adequate sewage system, disease was rampant. Because illness was a devastating reality for all classes, it became a fitting subject for satirical artists. Caricatures confronted the corruption of quack doctors and the public's obsession with cure-all potions. They also made light of common illnesses like gout and colic while showing the darker side of living under physical and mental distress.
Curators
Eileen Owens, Suzanne Andrée Curatorial Fellow, with John Ittmann, The Kathy and Ted Fernberger Curator of Prints