NEW YORK.- At a time when political satire is particularly relevant, the provocative, often funny, caricatures of James Gillray (1756–1815) continue to resonate strongly today. A caricaturist of true genius and a defining figure of the golden age of English caricature, Gillray seemed to have an underlying distrust of those in power, and he lampooned what he perceived as corruption, injustice, the abuse of power in public life, and the foibles of society at large. Gillray’s amazing inventiveness vividly comes to life in 160 hand-colored etchings and rare preparatory drawings on display in The New York Public Library’s Humanities and Social Sciences Library, Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, through January 29, 2005. James Gillray will be on view in the Print and Stokes Galleries on the third floor; it is the first time this remarkable Gillray collection has ever been celebrated in a Library exhibition.

At the end of the 18th century, when press when the press and parliamentary reporting produced an active awareness of current events and newsworthy personalities, Gillray, a gifted draftsman and skilled printmaker, commented in his audacious satires on the historical, political and social events of the day. He subjected all the key political figures, along with the King, Queen, Prince of Wales, and assorted aristocracy, to his witty and often outrageous exaggerations, elaborations, and confabulations. In the process, he transformed the then new genre of personal caricature into high art. “James Gillray responded to a wide range of contemporary issues — the ongoing war with France, protests against high taxes, fear of foreign invasion, unrest at home, concerns about domestic security, the restriction of civil liberties during wartime, pressures for wider suffrage, and the machinations of political parties — topics which can suggest parallels to our political climate today,” said Roberta Waddell, Curator of Prints in the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs. “Gillray was a brilliant artist, whose satires are remarkable for the extravagant inventiveness of his imagery. Through the exuberant excesses of his dramatic scenarios he could suggest the complexity of the political and social scene more accurately than often possible in a more factual recounting.”