The Union Club
1801
Medium
etching and engraving, hand-colored with watercolor by the publisher
Dimensions
plate: 29.6 x 43.9 cm (11 5/8 x 17 5/16 in.) sheet: 43.2 x 58.5 cm (17 x 23 1/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Accession Number
2012.45.1
Art Historical Context
**The Union Club** is a vibrant satirical print by James Gillray, the preeminent British caricaturist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, created in 1801. as an etching and engraving hand-colored with watercolor by the publisher, this work exemplifies the lively printmaking tradition of Georgian London. Measuring nearly 30 x 44 cm on the plate, it was designed for wide dissemination, allowing Gillray's sharp wit to a broad audience through affordable yet colorful reproductions. Gillray's captures the political fervor surrounding the Act of Union of 1801, which merged Great Britain and ...