Episodes from White Chapel Life
John Leech
c. 1850
Medium
Graphite on blue wove paper
Dimensions
7.3 × 8.8 cm (2 7/8 × 3 1/2 in.)
Classification
graphite
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
112224
About the Artist
John Leech · 1817–1864
John Leech (1817–1864) was born in London and educated at Charterhouse, where he formed a lifelong friendship with William Makepeace Thackeray. He briefly studied medicine before abandoning it for art, publishing his first comic character studies from London street life as early as 1835. Though largely self-taught as an illustrator, he absorbed the robust tradition of English caricature establishe...