George Cruikshank

George Cruikshank was a successful British caricaturist and illustrator. Cruikshank's father Isaac was one of the leading British cartoonists. George Cruikshank discovered his interest in art and illustration quite early. At the tender age of 12 he made his first illustrations. At that time these were still quite small projects, for example for penny dreadfuls, greeting cards, street ballads and lottery tickets. Later George Cruikshank learned the artistic tools of the trade as an apprentice and assistant to his father. At the age of 31 he focused more on book illustrations. Among his successful book illustrations is the illustration of an edition of Grimm's fairy tales. He achieved particular popularity through the illustration of numerous works by Charles Dickens, including Oliver Twist. At times, the artist even played in Dickens' amateur theater group. There was an intense controversy about the creation of Dickens' work in 1871. Cruishank wrote a letter to The Times. ...stating that much of the plot was originally written by Cruishank. Dickens denied that he was not the author of the work. Cruishank was not the first illustrator to cast doubt on Dickens' sole authorship. Shortly afterwards, the friendship that once bound the two of them deteriorated.

The origins of his career as an artist were to be found in his often socially critical caricatures. With drawings about typical English life he gained popularity. In 1819 he illustrated the satire "The political house that Jack built" by William Hone. The "Peterloo Massacre" of August 16, 1819 was the subject of his first major work "Pierce Egans Life in London", which helped him to his breakthrough as an artist. His later political pressures openly attacked the English royal house and leading British politicians. The royal house tried to stop his work by offering him a bribe of 100 pounds if he would stop making caricatures of members of the British Crown in the future. James Gillray was one of the most successful British cartoonists. After his death in 1815, George Cruikshank was socially considered a worthy successor. His father's alcohol-related death in the year was a difficult, if not traumatic experience for Cruikshank. He struggled with it for many years. Probably for this reason he joined a movement in 1847 that advocated the renunciation of alcohol. His personal experience also influenced his artistic work. The tracts "The bottle" and "The drunkards children" became a great success because of his illustrations. Today the private life of the artist is regarded as extremely piquant. 1827 - 1849 he was married to Mary Ann Walker. After her death he married Eliza Widdison two years later. He was not faithful to his wife. With his mistress Adelaide Attree he had eleven illegitimate children. Attree was a former maid to the artist. However, this fact only became known after his death. George Cruikshank died in 1878 in his home town London.