 |
Dec.26/04 - Jan.2, 2005 |
James Gillray's biting political etchings
Great British satirist cartoonist created the genre lampooning the rich, royal and famous
By Donna Lypchuk
Originally Published: 2003-06-22
James Gillray, the eighteenth century British caricaturist, is not only one of the world's greatest satirists, he practically created the genre of the political cartoon. His hilarious etchings, 30 of which are now on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario, lampoon the foibles of Georgian society, and in particular, its apparently bumbling, petty, greedy leader - King George. Perhaps one of the most savage and pre-eminent social critics in the world, Gillray's work was said to have inspired the work of George Orwell and Michael Heseltine - the creator of Spitting Image, the BBC television show that mocks members of the Royal family.
Gillray, like Jonathan Swift before him and Charles Dickens after him, saw everything through a jaded eye that never failed to highlight the objectionable moral characteristics of the rich and famous of the day. A stroll through the exhibition at the AGO definitely shows how Gillray absolutely took no prisoners in his descriptions of war, taxes, death, society, politics, serfdom and the follies of the regency.
This exhibition does not include Gillray's most famous works, such as his scandalous, bawdy cartoon of a buffoon wearing large buckled shoes on top of a lady wearing delicate pointed slippers (one of the very first publicly printed depictions of sexual intercourse). However, there is a book that contains "The Plumb-Pudding in Danger - or State Epicures Taking un petit souper," which shows Prime Minister Pitt sitting at a table with Napoleon, carving a world in the form of a plum pudding into slices with their swords.
This show does not contain the drawing master's most savage works, but it does give you an idea of the famous draughtsman's irreverent sense of humour. For instance, an etching called "The Fall of Icarus" shows the bare butt of a prominent citizen falling from grace onto a spike protruding from the ground that supposedly represents the money spike of all of the cash he has stolen from the government.
The AGO is mainly filled with images of a rotund, pot-bellied King George indulging in all acts of pomp and circumstance accompanied by a cast of hump-backed, squat, hook-nosed and pigeon-toed characters. Some of the cartoons take the form of portraits, such as "The Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion" which shows a bloated King picking his teeth after digesting one of his lavish banquets. None of Gillray's images can actually be described as kind, but perhaps one of the most savage is "The Possessed Pigs" which shows George III chasing the members of his government off a cliff and into the sea.
Page 1/...Page 2
|
| Home / Back to Top |
|
|
 |
|
|
</ td>
