JAMES GILLRAY (1756 – 1815)
January 5, 2007
In the history of English art, the name of James Gillray is associated with the efflorescence of English professional caricature in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The beginnings of this kind of mass printmaking date back to the early decades of the 18th century. According to art historians, this was a period when the Italian concept of caricature came to be adopted on English soil in close association with contemporaneous journalism, which was attacking ever more openly the flaws of social and political life.
The display dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the artist’s birth included selected works illustrating characteristic traits of Gillray’s satirical talent and his mastery as one of the outstanding engravers of his time.
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