The Dancing Lesson, Part 2: The Minuet
Medium
Etching on paper
Dimensions
Image: 10.5 × 14.5 cm (4 3/16 × 5 3/4 in.); Plate: 13 × 16.5 cm (5 1/8 × 6 1/2 in.); Sheet: 20.5 × 23.5 cm (8 1/8 × 9 5/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
44786
Art Historical Context
**The Dancing Lesson, Part 2: The Minuet** is a delightful etching by George Cruikshank, the renowned 19th-century British caricaturist and illustrator, created in 1835. Measuring a compact 10.5 × 14.5 cm, this print captures the elegance—and subtle absurdities—of a formal dance lesson. Etching, Cruikshank's favored medium, involves incising lines into a metal plate with acid, allowing for intricate details and multiple impressions on paper. This technique was ideal for his sharp, satirical style, which blended fine lines with exaggerated expressions to poke fun at society. Part of a series, ...
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 ...