Gilray (above) wasn't just the funniest cartoonist of the early Nineteenth Century, he was one of the funniest cartoonists ever. I'm glad to see that nowadays he's getting the critical recognition he deserves.
He's most famous for the etchings he did during the Napoleonic Era (above). They're terrific, but my personal favorites are the caricatures of fashion (at the top) that he did in his later style.
I think this one's called "The Prince."
Haw! This picture (above) leaves no doubt that if Gilray had been born later, he would have done full justice to the baggy/skateboarder fashions that began in the 1990s.
Man, seeing this (above) makes me want to draw. That's the highest compliment one cartoonist can give another.
Apparently some people (above) in Gilray's time payed so much attention to their wigs that they neglected certain other things.
Here (above) Gilray celebrates the opening to the public of an art exhibit at one of the downtown museums. Apparently public exhibitions like this were a novelty in Gilray's time.
Interesting, huh?
Hey, why did my sidebar shrink?
One of the funniest cartoonists ever? That's a bold claim! Although those fashion caricatures are winning me over
ReplyDeleteYour sidebar was back at the right size earlier but all the photos were cut in half. Now they're all back to being small
I like Cruickshank a lot too.
ReplyDeleteI think he was making a pun with his "Exhibition Staire Case" print, showing all those delightfully plump panty-less ladies taking a tumble down the stairs. Even the the nude statue on the wall looks a little concerned.
ReplyDeleteIf I ever created a piece of art this breataking I'd have to retire, knowing that I could never top it. An incredible work of art.
One very cool thing about that fifth picture down, of the angular couple, if you look at it from far away, the man's body looks like a face, with the hat as his nose and his coat as his hair.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen the gallery staircase one before. Great stuff! Eddie, you say that Gilray makes you feel like drawing, and you've said this about George Herriman, I believe. Any others that make you want to rush off to the drawing board?
ReplyDeleteJoshua: Cut in half!!??? What's going on? I'll let it go for a couple of days and see if it rights itself. *Sigh*
ReplyDeleteSteve: Cruickshank is great! Gilray's early style resembles Cruickshank's.
John A: Fascinating! That didn't occur to me til you mentioned it.
Modesto: Son of a Gun, you're right! I wonder if that was intentional?
Stephen: A number of other cartoonists make me feel that way: Wilhelm Busch, Don Martin, Ding Darling, John Kricfalusi, Rod Scribner, John Sibley...I could go on.
Eddie! I'm hearing your name as someone I'd like to talk as part of an article for Believer magazine on animation -- interested in being interviewed?
ReplyDelete