Best Caricature

James Gillray’s “The Plum-pudding in Danger” (1805) is a British political caricature depicting Napoleon Bonaparte and William Pitt the Younger. The print satirizes escalating tensions between Britain and France following the breakdown of the Peace of Amiens. Gillray uses the image of carving a plum...

John Tenniel’s 1890 Punch cartoon portrays German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck leaving a ship via a gangway. Kaiser Wilhelm II observes from above. This iconic image powerfully symbolized Bismarck's impending departure from power and the rising influence of the younger Kaiser. It is notable for its...

William Hogarth’s “Beer Street and Gin Lane” (1751) is a powerful satirical engraving illustrating social conditions in Georgian London. The work depicts two starkly contrasting scenes: Beer Street represents a prosperous, orderly neighborhood while Gin Lane portrays the devastating consequences of...

David Low’s 1934 caricature depicts Colonel Blimp, a prominent satirical character created for *The Evening Standard*. The image embodies criticisms of the British military and upper-class societal values during the interwar period. It targets those involved in leadership and political commentary, o...

Thomas Nast’s 1871 Harper’s Weekly caricature powerfully exposed corruption within Tammany Hall during the Gilded Age. The image depicts William Tweed’s head transformed into a money bag, labeled “The Brains,” highlighting his control and illicit wealth. This influential artwork played a crucial rol...

Daumier’s *Rue Transnonain* (1834) is a lithograph depicting the brutal killing of Parisians by the July Monarchy's National Guard. The artwork powerfully portrays the chaotic scene following the massacre on Rue Transnonain in Paris, becoming a significant symbol of social injustice and resistance d...

William Hogarth’s *Marriage A-la-Mode* (1743) is an engraving depicting the decline of a wealthy aristocratic marriage. The series exposes societal pressures surrounding financial gain and social status within Georgian England. It provides a critical commentary on moral behavior among the elite, pri...

Mafalda is a widely recognized Argentine comic strip created by Quino between 1964 and 1973. The series portrays Mafalda, a precocious nine-year-old girl with sharp observational skills and critical thinking about politics, society, and human nature. Her insightful commentary gained immense popular...

Wilhelm Busch’s *Max und Moritz* (1865) is a German caricature depicting two boys engaging in escalating mischief. This influential work established many conventions of sequential art, notably its use of humor derived from relatable childhood behavior and culminating consequences. It's significant f...

This lithograph by Charles Philipon depicts a caricature of King Louis-Philippe I of France. Published in 1831, it is notable for its contribution to the July Monarchy’s satirical representation of the royal family. The image shows the king gradually resembling a pear, a deliberate strategy employed...

Benjamin Franklin’s “Join or Die” woodcut depicts a serpent divided into separate sections. Created in 1754, this iconic image was published in the *Pennsylvania Gazette* and is recognized as America's first political cartoon. It visually represented the colonies’ need for unity to confront external...

William Hogarth’s “A Rake’s Progress” is a series of engravings depicting the decline of Tom Rakewell's fortunes and moral character. Created in 1735, it’s notable for its pioneering use of sequential imagery to tell a complex narrative—a technique that influenced subsequent British art. The work ex...

Honoré Daumier was a 19th-century French artist primarily known for his realistic paintings and satirical lithographs. His work offered sharp commentary on Parisian society and political figures through powerful caricatures. He captured everyday life with unflinching honesty. Daumier’s art is valued...

Bill Mauldin’s “Willie and Joe” cartoons, beginning in 1944, provide poignant portrayals of U.S. Army soldiers during World War II. These influential caricatures captured the exhaustion and hardship experienced by American infantrymen with unflinching honesty. Mauldin's work gained widespread recogn...

Al Hirschfeld was a renowned American illustrator primarily known for his distinctive black-and-white ink caricatures. His meticulous style captured the essence of Broadway performers and other public figures through pure line work. He is particularly celebrated for his signature technique of incorp...

Elkanah Tisdale’s 1812 caricature depicts an intentionally convoluted Massachusetts congressional district. The artwork, published in the Boston Gazette, utilized a snake-like shape to illustrate partisan manipulation of electoral boundaries for political advantage. This image became synonymous with...

Mort Drucker was a celebrated American illustrator best known for his work with *MAD Magazine*. His distinctive caricature style captured iconic figures from Hollywood and beyond through meticulous ink drawings. He created enduring images of film stars and public personalities valued by fans of clas...

James Gillray’s “Caricatura” from circa 1801 is a significant satirical print that critiques the genre of caricature. The work demonstrates Gillray's mastery as a British political artist during the Georgian era. He employed this meta-caricature to examine and comment on his own artistic practice, m...

"The Tammany Tiger Loose—What are you going to do about it?" is a double-page political cartoon by Thomas Nast published in Harper's Weekly on November 11, 1871. The illustration depicts a tiger wearing a collar labeled "Tammany" mauling a woman representing Columbia and the American Republic inside...

Daumier's 1834 lithograph published in L'Association Mensuelle portrays the French Chamber of Deputies as a semicircle of bloated, indifferent legislators, considered one of his greatest political prints.

David Levine was an American artist and illustrator celebrated for his distinctive satirical caricatures of political, literary, and cultural figures. Working primarily in pen and ink, he contributed over 3,800 illustrations to The New York Review of Books beginning in 1963. His portraits were chara...

Edward Sorel is an American illustrator, caricaturist, and cartoonist celebrated for his satirical pen-and-ink drawings. His work has been prominently featured in publications such as The New Yorker, Esquire, and The Atlantic. Sorel is known for his fluid, crosshatched line work and his sharp, often...

"Gargantua" is an 1831 political lithograph by French artist Honoré Daumier published in the satirical journal La Caricature. The artwork portrays King Louis-Philippe I as the literary giant Gargantua, consuming resources and gold extracted from the impoverished French populace. This act of visual d...

"The Four Stages of Cruelty" is a series of four printed engravings completed by English artist William Hogarth in 1751. The sequence narrates the life of Tom Nero, tracing his progression from childhood cruelty to animals, to murder, and finally to his own execution and public dissection. Hogarth d...

Drew Friedman is an American cartoonist and illustrator known for densely rendered caricatures that combine realistic modeling with satirical distortion. Working primarily in pen and ink and related tonal techniques, he has depicted entertainers, historical personalities, comedians, and lesser-known...

Rossetti and His Circle is a 1922 portfolio of caricatures by English writer and artist Max Beerbohm. Its drawings portray Dante Gabriel Rossetti and figures associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement, including artists, writers, and their social circle. Beerbohm combines visual parody with caption...

Created by Philip Dawe in 1774, this political mezzotint caricature illustrates American colonists tarring and feathering a British customs official named John Malcolm. The print specifically depicts the rebels forcing tea down the man's throat, directly referencing the recent Boston Tea Party. It w...

Daumier's series of over 100 lithographs published in Le Charivari between 1836 and 1838 follows the swindler Robert Macaire, becoming a landmark in the development of the recurring cartoon character.

Published in 1747, 'Industry and Idleness' is a series of twelve engravings by English artist William Hogarth. The narrative tracks two contrasting apprentices: the virtuous Francis Goodchild and the wayward Thomas Idle. Through a series of moral vignettes, the industrious apprentice rises to become...