Blowing-up the Pic-Nic's;–or–Harlequin Quixote Attacking the Puppets, vide Tottenham Street Pantomime 1802

James Gillray created this etching in England to mock the “Pic-Nic Society” of 1802, a group of upper-class dilettantes who staged their own amateur theatricals. Gillray's image satirizes what some saw as the Pic-Nic Society's threat to professional actors and established theaters. The central figure, dressed as Harlequin, wields a pen like a magic wand, attacking the actors on stage. Banners in the background bear the names of playwrights like Shakespeare and Schiller, suggesting the Pic-Nic Society is also a danger to dramatic literature. By comparing the society to Don Quixote tilting at windmills, Gillray ridicules their artistic pretensions. The print's exaggerated figures and chaotic composition reflect the cultural anxieties surrounding class, amateurism, and the commercialization of art. To fully understand Gillray's satire, one might consult theater reviews of the period and the archives of London's playhouses. The social history of art helps us appreciate how artistic production is always embedded in networks of institutions and power.