French Liberty – British Slavery 1792

Curator: Here we have James Gillray's "French Liberty – British Slavery", a hand-colored etching and print created in 1792. It’s held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: My first reaction is...biting satire. It's starkly divided. One side appears impoverished, the other grotesquely prosperous. Curator: Precisely. Gillray uses caricature to comment on the perceived differences between revolutionary France and Britain. Look at the French figure – the ragged clothing, the Phrygian cap, the onions he is reduced to eating. These are all potent symbols, playing on fears of revolutionary excess and social leveling. The implication is that liberty has led to destitution. Editor: And opposite him, we see the British figure, almost overflowing from his chair, gorging on a massive cut of meat. The stark materialism! It suggests that the British system, even with its supposed "slavery," allows for opulence, if only for some. I wonder what paper he used for this, and what determined his color choices. The print seems a blend of etching and maybe aquatint? It does lend it a depth beyond just line. Curator: The symbolism runs deep. Note the Goddess of Britannia above the Briton, seemingly mocked by her placement. The two scenes work as contrasting ideologies, with Gillray definitely siding against revolutionary principles, viewing British "slavery" as preferable to French "liberty". Editor: So, it’s all relative deprivation presented through excess, both under freedom or constraint, depicted in the print. Interesting, how these opposing realities were conceived through this careful engraving process. This reveals anxieties, perhaps of being overrun by the rabble as seen with those ragged french. It reminds you of old times with all of our different means of seeing today, where so much remains contested or unresolvable! Curator: Absolutely. It gives us a visual entry point into understanding how profoundly the French Revolution shaped British social and political discourse. Editor: Definitely made me ponder the material conditions that underly abstract ideals like freedom and how readily manipulated. Curator: Indeed. And to what extent they are still wielded and debated!