There are two images. In the first, a man with two swollen cheeks and a swollen eye looks in the mirror. In the second, the same man is holding a large white sheet in an attempt to wrap his face in a poultice.

Comic & Grotesque

George Cruikshank had a way of melding the grotesque and comic together, using exaggerated features and strange hybrid forms to elicit a laugh, issue a critique, and sometimes vent his own cruel prejudices. There was no limit to Cruikshank’s visual experimentation–and visual punning–with the body. In this collection, you will encounter clam babies, butterfly men, impossible bodies, wounded bodies, human-object hybrids, and other imaginative forms.

“By pushing viewers beyond their expectations, the grotesque results in feelings of disturbance and even disgust.”

Rachel Teukolsky, Picture World (2020)

This section features his artwork from five different compilations of engravings: The Tooth-ache (1975), Comic Alphabet (1836), Omnibus (1870); Three Courses and a Dessert (1867), and My Sketchbook (1833-1836).

Click on the image icons below to learn more about each sketch. 

A series of sketches featuring a man with very long legs riding on a cart, laying on the ground, steeling a door knocker and other mischief.
A man sleeps in bed and a dark-skinned man with a long mustache rides on a pig on top of the sleeping figure
A series of sketches show people drawn to look like birds
Two pictures. In the first one, a ghost sits in a chair surrounded by other skeletons across from a man whose hair is standing up. In the second image, a large white ghost floats over a man who is falling over
A potato has arms and legs and is carrying a fork and knife
A series of whimsical drawings including a boy dressed as a butterfly, people that look like pots and a young boy running through the grass with a snake in the grass
There are two images. In the first, a man with two swollen cheeks and a swollen eye looks in the mirror. In the second, the same man is holding a large white sheet in an attempt to wrap his face in a poultice.