Artists and Pirates

Satirical Prints in Georgian London and Dublin

Single sheet satire – caricature – was the most distinctive and original art form to emerge from England in the eighteenth century.

Artists such as James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson combined devastating wit with graphic brilliance to lampoon the great and create timeless images inspired by moments of fleeting controversy or scandal. Behind Gillray’s enormous production was his creative and business partner Hannah Humphrey, a pioneering art dealer.

It is less well known that printsellers in Dublin also produced caricatures, both copies of London models and original satires.

This exhibition, curated by Silvia Beltrametti and William Laffan, features over ninety prints including London originals and Dublin pirated copies, as well as Dublin originals, with the objects of their satire ranging from politics – the French Revolution, the 1798 Rebellion or Catholic Emancipation for example – to the vanities and pretentions of the emerging professions, and everyday manners and mores.

In Spring 2026, the exhibition will travel to Chicago where it will be hosted by the Driehaus Museum.