Cruikshank
GEORGE, an English pictorial satirist; born in London, Sept. 27, 1792. A publication, "The Scourge" (1811-1816), afforded scope for the display of his satiric genius, and from that time forth he continued to pursue with remarkable success this his true vein. His illustrations for Hone's political squibs and pamphlets, and especially those dealing with the Queen Caroline trial, attracted much attention; but in the exquisite series of colored etchings contributed to the "Humorist" (1819- 1821), and in the etchings to the "Points of Humour" (1823-1824), did his true artistic power begin to be visible. This second, and in many ways finest, period of his art, represented by these works, culminated in the etchings to "Peter Schlemihl" (1823), and to Grimm's "German Popular Stories" (1824-1826). His numerous plates in "Bentley's Miscellany" mark a third period of his art, in which he aimed at greater elaboration and completeness. The finest of these are the series to Dickens" "Oliver Twist," to Ainsworth's "Jack Sheppard," and in "The Tower of London" and "Windsor Castle." As a water-colorist he left work marked by considerable skill and delicacy. In his late years he devoted himself to oil-painting. His most important picture was "Worship of Bacchus" (1862). He died Feb. 1, 1878.