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High-change in Bond Street, - ou- la Politesse du Grande Monde / Js. Gy d: et fect., British Cartoon Print

High-change in Bond Street, - ou- la Politesse du Grande Monde / Js. Gy d: et fect., British Cartoon Print

description

Summary

Fashionably dressed pedestrians on Bond Street. In the foreground, five men crowd a woman and girl off the sidewalk as they leer at them. The women, seen from the back, are oddly dressed. In the background, three ladies, also in exaggerated costumes, walking arm-in-arm in the roadway.
Catalog of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 7, no. 8900
Forms part of: British Cartoon Prints Collection (Library of Congress).
Exhibited: Gillray and the Art of Caricature.

It wasn't really until the 1700s that caricature truly blossomed as a form of political criticism. In the late 1750s, a man named Thomas Townshend began using the techniques employed by earlier engravers and applying them towards a political model. This gave Thompson's cartoons a much greater feeling of propaganda than previous artistic critiques of the time. The intense political climate of the period, and often accusatory nature of most political cartoons forced many artists to use pseudonyms in order to avoid accusations of libel. Other artists took it a step farther, and left their cartoons completely unsigned, foregoing any credit they may have received. Political higher-ups were notoriously touchy about their reputations and were not afraid to make examples of offenders. Puck was the first successful humor magazine in the United States of colorful cartoons, caricatures and political satire of the issues of the day. It was published from 1871 until 1918.

date_range

Date

1850 - 1950
person

Contributors

Gillray, James, 1756-1815, engraver
create

Source

Library of Congress
copyright

Copyright info

No known restrictions on publication.

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