The Departure
Medium
Etching; undescribed early state
Dimensions
Sheet: 10 1/16 × 13 13/16 in. (25.5 × 35.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
Accession Number
59.533.64
Tags
Art Historical Context
**The Departure**, a satirical etching created by Thomas Rowlandson in collaboration with J. Hedges and dated April 29,1784, captures the biting wit of late 18th-century British caricature. Rowlandson, a master of humorous and often irreverent prints, depicts prominent figures including Whig politician Charles James Fox and the glamorous Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Produced as an early, undescribed state on a modest sheet measuring 10 1/16 × 13 13/16 inches, this etching exemplifies the era's lively printmaking tradition, where multiple impressions allowed for refinements in line work an...
About the Artist
Thomas Rowlandson|J. Hedges|Charles James Fox|Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire · 1756–1827
Thomas Rowlandson (1757–1827) was an English artist and caricaturist whose satirical watercolors and prints captured the social life of Georgian Britain with unparalleled wit and technical mastery. Alongside James Gillray, he is recognized as one of the greatest British graphic artists, and his distinctive flowing line and keen observations have made his work integral to understanding late 18th an...