January - The Announcement from George Cruikshank's Steel Etchings to The Comic Almanacks: 1835-1853 c. 1840 - 1880

Curator: Immediately, I sense a kind of chaotic energy! It’s like walking into a slightly unhinged but also very lively street performance. There's a story bursting out of the frame, isn’t there? Editor: Indeed! What we are looking at is titled “January – The Announcement from George Cruikshank's Steel Etchings to The Comic Almanacks: 1835-1853” from approximately 1840-1880. It’s currently held here at the Art Institute of Chicago, and the print and etching work of George Cruikshank presents a compelling intersection between romanticism and what we would now consider genre painting with very strong elements of caricature. Curator: Caricature is definitely the right word. The exaggerated features, the almost frantic energy of the scene. It speaks to a certain social commentary, doesn't it? Almost like Cruikshank is satirizing the societal rituals around grooming and appearance. Editor: Absolutely. Think about the era and context here: Cruikshank often used his art as a form of social critique, responding to Victorian social issues and class divisions. A location such as a “Saloon of Fashion,” a space of performance and class aspiration, satirizing notions of male vanity and bourgeois rituals would have definitely landed with his audience. Curator: The contrast in characters! The foppish gentleman with his absurdly patterned trousers arriving with a letter, against the flurry of the barber and his customer. The slightly stunned onlookers… everyone's caught in the same whirlwind. Is it supposed to reflect some particular January “announcement?” Editor: The piece could indeed symbolize the “announcement” of the New Year in January. Given Cruikshank's broader body of work, we should see such announcements as intrinsically tied to critical commentary and political engagement. Cruikshank worked extensively with radical publishers. Curator: It really is a fantastic image! There’s so much going on in a relatively small space, that tension contributes to the dynamic atmosphere! Even the text on the walls, "Circassian Cream" and "Bears Grease"... these details just build out a whole world of aspirational self-presentation, ripe for satire. It makes one wonder, who gets to be beautiful, or fashionable, and who gets to decide? Editor: And Cruikshank certainly gives you much to ponder as to which members of society meet his measure. Hopefully this exploration helped provide more insights! Curator: I think I will visit this bustling shop again myself and spend some time considering beauty, power, and who is inside looking out!