George Cruikshank
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Wood engraving published in
Harper's Weekly newspaper
March 16, 1878
George Cruikshank (September 27, 1792—February 1, 1878), caricaturist and book illustrator. Born in London, England, he was a member of the Cruikshank family of caricaturists and artists, the son of Scottish painter and caricaturist Isaac Cruikshank.
Background
His 60-year career began with political prints that attacked the royal family and leading politicians (in 1820 he received a royal bribe of £100 for a pledge "not to caricature His Majesty (George III of the United Kingdom) in any immoral situation.") He went on to create social caricatures of British life for popular publications such as The Comic Almanack (1835-1853) and Omnibus (1842). Later in his career, his book illustrations for Charles Dickens and many other authors reached an international audience.
( Rara avis in terris )
by George Cruikshank
Copperplate engraving published in
The Comic Almanack for 1841
Cruikshank replaced one of his major influences, James Gillray, as England's most popular satirist. For a generation he delineated Tories, Whigs and Radicals impartially. Satirical material came to him from every public event -- wars abroad, the enemies of Britain (he was highly patriotic), the frolic, among other qualities, such as the weird and terrible, in which he excelled.
He created folios of prints with moralistic themes inspired by the temperence movement. The best known of these are The Bottle, 8 plates (1847), with its sequel, The Drunkard's Children, 8 plates (1848), with the ambitious work, The Worship of Bacchus, published by subscription after the artist's oil painting, now in the National Gallery, London.
by George Cruikshank
Copperplate engraving, 1838
For Charles Dickens, Cruikshank illustrated Sketches by Boz (1836) and Oliver Twist (1838). On December 30, 1871 Cruikshank published a letter in The Times which claimed credit for much of the plot of Oliver Twist. The letter launched a fierce controversy around who created the work. While Dickens was the author, Cruikshank developed many ideas like those that appeared in the book and it is difficult -- if not impossible -- to distinguish his concepts from those of Dickens, which were developed at the same time.
See Cruikshank's Water-Colours, with introduction by Joseph Grego (London, 1903).
His work included a personification of England named John Bull who was developed from about 1790 in conjunction with other British satirical artists such as Gillray, and Thomas Rowlandson.
External links
- [SurLaLune Fairy Tale Pages: Fairy Tale Illustrations of George Cruikshank]
- [George Cruikshank] at [Lambiek.net]
- [Biographical information]
- [Dickens Illustrators]
References
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