{"id":22527,"date":"2023-03-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=22527"},"modified":"2023-04-24T16:50:23","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T14:50:23","slug":"taking-aim-with-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/2023\/03\/16\/taking-aim-with-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking aim with art"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CULTURAL <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Taking aim with art<\/h1>\n\n

Uproar!, <\/em>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\u2019s note states that this is a subject known only to enthusiasts and academics \u2013 quite a claim, on the face of it. <\/p>\n\n

It is certainly true that many of the complex references to contemporary characters and events \u2013 which would have been immediately understood by those living through the moment represented \u2013 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. <\/p>\n\n

Some will find the punchy, often disarmingly cheeky writing style \u2013 in self-conscious imitation of the subject matter? \u2013 fresh and invigorating. Others may find this \u201cBISH, BASH, BOSCH\u201d approach a little distracting. <\/p>\n\n

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\u2019s \u201cattack\u201d on caricature, as Loxton appears to suggest. <\/p>\n\n

Another, fundamental issue is the unfortunate over-reliance on in-text black-and-white images. The glorious contemporary hand-colouring of Gillray\u2019s prints deserves to be seen \u2013 if, that is, you view his work as visual art, as well as social\/ political documentation. That said, Uproar! <\/em>is a fun introduction to a great subject \u2013 and, if it encourages further interest, job done! <\/p>\n\n

\n\n

Jacqueline Riding, <\/strong>author of Peterloo: <\/em>The <\/em>Story <\/em>of <\/em>the <\/em>Manchester <\/em>Massacre <\/em>(Head of Zeus, 2018) and Hogarth: <\/em>Life <\/em>in <\/em>Progress <\/em>(Profile, 2021) <\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Uproar! Satire, Scandal and Printmakers in Georgian London <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

by Alice Loxton <\/p>\n\n

Icon, 240 pages, \u00a325 <\/h5>\n\n

All products were chosen independently by our editorial team. Below is an affiliate link, and we may receive a commission for purchases made. Please read our affiliates FAQ section underneath the Letters page to find out more.<\/p>\n\n

Buy now from Waterstones<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s note states that this is a subject known only to enthusiasts and academics \u2013 quite a claim, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":22816,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"75","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"75","purple_seq_number":"2","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"2","purple_source_article":"article_75-2.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_75-2.xml","purple_source_issue":"April-2023","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"April-2023","purple_external_id":"April-2023-75-2","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"April-2023-75-2","purple_issue_code":"|0000085643||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000085643||","purple_android_product":"com.im.historymag.293","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.historymag.293","purple_ios_product":"com.im.historymag.293","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.historymag.293","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"de2d4977-6998-4200-99aa-454f8dbebdf9","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-04-24T14:36:29Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"5185bcc1-c426-409f-9694-75334e973aae","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-04-24T14:50:29Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AUYW8wcQmQJ-WlHUzTpc6rg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\""},"categories":[20],"tags":[46],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/Uproar-tn-scaled.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/Uproar-tn-scaled.jpg",2560,1718,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/Uproar-tn-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/Uproar-tn-300x201.jpg",300,201,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/Uproar-tn-768x515.jpg",768,515,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/Uproar-tn-1024x687.jpg",800,537,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/Uproar-tn-1536x1031.jpg",1536,1031,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/Uproar-tn-2048x1374.jpg",2048,1374,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"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\u2019s note states that this is a subject known only to enthusiasts and academics \u2013 quite a claim,…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22527"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22527"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22818,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22527\/revisions\/22818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}