Connoisseurs–or Portrait Collectors !!!
Medium
Hand-colored etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 11/16 × 5 13/16 in. (9.4 × 14.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
Accession Number
59.533.1022(6)
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the lively world of early 19th-century British satire, Thomas Rowlandson, a master caricaturist, teamed up with John Britton and published by Longman, Hurst, and Orme to create *Connoisseurs–or Portrait !!!* in 1807. This hand-colored etching, measuring just 3 11/16 × 5 13/16 inches, captures pretensions of male art enthusiasts with Rowlandson's signature exaggerated humor. The small-scale print, part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Elisha Whittelsey Collection, pokes fun at self-proclaimed "conno" obsessed with portrait collecting, reflecting the booming art market of Regency England. ...
About the Artist
Thomas Rowlandson|John Britton|Longman, Hurst, Rees and Orme · 1756–1827
Thomas Rowlandson (1757–1827) was an English artist and caricaturist whose satirical watercolors and prints captured the social life of Georgian Britain with unparalleled wit and technical mastery. Alongside James Gillray, he is recognized as one of the greatest British graphic artists, and his distinctive flowing line and keen observations have made his work integral to understanding late 18th an...