CULTURAL
Taking aim with art
Uproar!, we are forewarned, rips through the context and production of British 18th and 19th-century pictorial satire, focusing on the careers of Georgian artists Thomas Rowlandson, Isaac Cruikshank and James Gillray. The author’s note states that this is a subject known only to enthusiasts and academics – quite a claim, on the face of it.
It is certainly true that many of the complex references to contemporary characters and events – which would have been immediately understood by those living through the moment represented – are inevitably lost on the modern viewer. And Alice Loxton is good at summarising the background to the often bewildering barrage of detail around images of William Pitt the Younger, Bonaparte et al. However, many readers of this magazine are unlikely to be ignorant of these artists or of the times their art reflected.
Some will find the punchy, often disarmingly cheeky writing style – in self-conscious imitation of the subject matter? – fresh and invigorating. Others may find this “BISH, BASH, BOSCH” approach a little distracting.
Occasionally the art history feels too simplistic. An example of this is the analysis of William Hogarth (the backdrop to the heft of the book), where a few errors and some muddle creep in: Annibale Carracci (died 1609) could not, for instance, have responded directly to Hogarth’s “attack” on caricature, as Loxton appears to suggest.
Another, fundamental issue is the unfortunate over-reliance on in-text black-and-white images. The glorious contemporary hand-colouring of Gillray’s prints deserves to be seen – if, that is, you view his work as visual art, as well as social/ political documentation. That said, Uproar! is a fun introduction to a great subject – and, if it encourages further interest, job done!
Jacqueline Riding, author of Peterloo: The Story of the Manchester Massacre (Head of Zeus, 2018) and Hogarth: Life in Progress (Profile, 2021)
Uproar! Satire, Scandal and Printmakers in Georgian London
by Alice Loxton
Icon, 240 pages, £25
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