Existing comment:
The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries marked a number of important shifts in comic art. For the first time, major artists dedicated considerable effort and even their entire careers to the genre, which took on an increasingly contemporary focus. In France artists first concentrated on middle-class customs before shifting their attention to broader social concerns in the nineteenth century. In Britain this transition was rooted in the prints of William Hogarth. Although Hogarth himself held caricature in low regard, later generations of British artists such as James Gillray did not hesitate to use it, creating some of the most bitingly personal political satire ever made and anticipating the political cartoons of our own time. In Spain Francisco de Goya was inspired in part by British satirists but his dark glimpses into societal ills and the human soul reflect a more romantic sensibility.
During the nineteenth century the development of lithography meant that artists' designs could be reproduced quickly and inexpensively, allowing almost immediate commentary on current events. Where censorship prevented direct attacks on public figures such as the unpopular King Louis-Philippe of France (ruled 1830-1848), artists became adept at more nuanced criticism. Honoré Daumier, once imprisoned for a savage depiction of the king, attacked him indirectly by mocking French society. |