What It Is Today

The Manager's Last Kick, or a New Way to Pay Old Debts

Designer: Rowlandson, Thomas (London, 1756 - 1827)
Engraver: Anonymous
Date: c. 1815
Medium: Original Hand-Coloured Etching
Note: Thomas Rowlandson: Along with Hogarth, Gillray and Cruikshank, Thomas Rowlandson is at the uppermost peak of English satirical art. Amongst these masters, however, Rowlandson was the most gifted artist and his compositions seemed the closest to the truth for he often lived the dissipated style of life he so memorably satirized. Studying art in both Paris and London, Rowlandson began his career as a portrait painter. By 1782, however, he devoted himself almost exclusively to his first love; caricature and satirical art. After receiving a large inheritance, Rowlandson quickly gambled it away. Losing his fortune at a thirty-six hour card game he is known to have exclaimed, "I've played the fool, but (holding up his pencils) here is my resource."
Working with such publishers as Flores and Thomas Tegg, Rowlandson designed many memorable satires. In the book arts he collaborated with the famous London publisher, Rudolph Ackermann, to produce some of the finest satirical volumes in the history of art. These included The Microcosm of London (1808), the Tour of Dr. Syntax in Search of the Picturesque (1812) and The English Dance of Death, published in two volumes in 1815 and 1816.
Despite his great illustrated works, Rowlandson's larger, single sheet etchings remain his most famous legacy. Some were both designed and etched by him, others were only designed by him and he also etched some compositions designed by his fellow artists and friends, such as George Woodward and Henry Bunbury. The Manager's Last Kick, or a New Way to Pay old Debts was designed by Rowlandson and etched by an unknown artist. It portrays a manager falling through the stage trap door all the way to Hell. Happily sending him on his way are members of the pit orchestra and selected characters from some of his plays.

The Pantomime

Rowlandson, Thomas (London, 1756 - 1827)
Date: 1815
Medium: Original Aquatint & Etching Printed in Colour
Publisher: Rudolph Ackermann, London
Printer: Rudolph Ackermann, London

The Death Blow

Rowlandson, Thomas (London, 1756 - 1827)
Date: 1815
Medium: Original Aquatint & Etching Printed in Colour
Publisher: Rudolph Ackermann, London
Printer: Rudolph Ackermann, London

The Horticultural Fate

Artist: Heath, William (London, 1795 - 1840)
Date: June 30, 1829
Medium: Original Hand-Coloured Etching
Publisher: Thomas McLean, London
Note: William Heath: The Golden Age of English satirical art began in the late eighteenth century with the etchings of Thomas Rowlandson and James Gillray and ended in the mid 1830's with the etchings of William Heath and George Cruikshank. After that time the emerging morals of Victorian society put an end to such forms of always exuberant and often outrageous compositions. During its height many artists supplied the London print sellers with hand-coloured satirical etchings and caricatures, yet these lesser lights could not match either the genius or wit of the four great masters of this vibrant genre.
A keen observer of both political and military culture, Heath's compositions drew the ire of both King George 1V and the Duke of Wellington for many years. His caricatures of Wellington, in particular, achieved a national reputation. Yet William Heath's etched art was at its sharpest when he delineated the life and habits of the middle and upper classes. Some of the most humorous images of morals, manners and dress in the history of art were etched by his hand.
Little is known of Heath's early life. He claimed to be an ex captain of the dragoons but his name is not recorded on any army list. His first published prints dealt mainly with military subjects but by 1820 he had turned almost exclusively to satirical art. Until 1830, many of Heath's etchings were issued under the pseudonym and tiny figure of 'Paul Pry" (seen here in the lower left margin). After that date, however, he abandoned this name and symbol as it was constantly plagiarized by other artists. Most of Heath's great art (including this original example) was published by Thomas McLean of Haymarket.
The Horticultural Fate is illustrative of Heath's finest satirical art. Here he depicts the fashionable activities at a Horticultural Fair during a torrential downpour. Seeking cover in vain, the darling buds of fashion are all wilting under the ceaseless rain. To lend literary importance to this wonderfully absurd image Heath has provided quotes from both Shakespeare and Spencer along the lower margin.

Hangman

Bragg, Charles (St. Louis, Missouri, born, 1931)
Date: c. 1980
Medium: Original Colour Lithograph
Note: Charles Bragg: If this original lithograph strikes the viewer as somewhat familiar it is because it comes from the hand of perhaps the most popular satirical artist of our times. Charles Bragg and his assembly of wonderfully invented characters and grotesques are known throughout the world. He has won numerous international awards and has regularly been commissioned to do work for such publications as the New York Times and Playboy. His work is now found in the collections of over 20 major museums including the Joseph Hirshhorn Collection in Washington DC, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Museum of Modern Art in Milan and the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.
Charles Bragg came to New York quite early in life and studied art there at the Art Students League. Opposing most of the art trends of the day, he began his career in the mid 1950's with only limited success. This changed dramatically in 1968 when a one-man exhibition brought his distinctly unique satirical art to the forefront. Society in general and the professions of law, medicine, the military, the clergy and business, in particular, were all fodder for his brilliant paintings, etchings and lithographs. In Bragg's own words he is most interested in characters who have, "lost their souls while acting our depravities through tragicomic burlesques of morality and ethics."
Hangman is one of Bragg's most powerful and provoking works of original art. With one foot in fire and the other in ice this sinister and depraved looking man dangles two victims on a line. It doesn't require much imagination to see this disturbing image as a telling counterpoint to the traditional symbol of justice -- the blindfolded young woman who holds the scales --only now the blindfold is up to reveal a pair of most sinister eyes and the balancing scales are under this individual's control. To say the least this is a most damning image of our modern day systems of law and government. Only the genius of Charles Bragg could produce such a haunting image.