"Crinolina" - and the Consequences [recto]
!["Crinolina" - and the Consequences [recto] by George Cruikshank](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/nga/thumb/crinolina-and-the-consequences-recto-nga-93836.webp)
Medium
pen and black ink with watercolor and scratching-out (around the ghosts' eyes on the right) on wove paper
Dimensions
Overall: 24.3 x 32.2 cm (9 9/16 x 12 11/16 in.) mat: 40.6 x 55.9 cm (16 x 22 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Accession Number
1996.5.1.a
Art Historical Context
George Cruikshank's *Crinolina - and the [recto]* (1865) is a sharp satirical drawing that captures the of Victorian fashion. Created during the height of crinoline mania—those expansive hoop skirts that defined women's silhouettes—Cruikshank skewers the deadly "consequences" of this trend, likely alluding to infamous accidents like fires that claimed lives. As a renowned British caricaturist known for his social commentary, often in collaboration with Charles Dickens, Cruiksh used humor and exaggeration to critique societal follies, from temperance to fashion excesses. Rendered in pen and bl...
About the Artist
George Cruikshank · 1792–1878
George Cruikshank (1792–1878) was born in London on 27 September 1792, the son of Scottish caricaturist Isaac Cruikshank and Mary MacNaughton. His older brother, Isaac Robert Cruikshank, was also a caricaturist and illustrator, while his sister Eliza worked as a designer. From a young age, Cruikshank assisted his father in the studio, contributing titles, backgrounds, and lettering to cartoons by ...