Album of caricatures

ca. 1824

Not on view

Lord Mark Kerr invented the monsters that populate the pages of this album, whimsical composite beings inspired by fantastic sources in earlier art. Printed around 1824, the lithographs reproduce drawings that Kerr made earlier decades to poke fun at the military, quack doctors, social events, exotic travel and romance. They reflect on his intimate circle's love for puns, jokes and amateur theatricals. Skilled as an amateur artist, Kerr made his name in the navy. In 1792-94 he joined the ship that took Lord Macartney to China as midshipman and returned a lieutenant. As an officer, he witnessed Minorca's surrender to the British in 1798. As captain of HMS Fisgard, he captured valuable Spanish vessels in September 1804, then reported to Admiral Nelson in 1805 that the French fleet had left Toulon and entered the Atlantic (a preliminary to the Battle of Trafalgar).
This album of 72 pages contains 91 lithographs and two landscape drawings (possibly by another hand), as well as a handwritten poem.

Artwork Details

Title: Album of caricatures
Artist: Lord Mark Kerr (British, 1776–1840)
Date: ca. 1824
Medium: Pen lithographs and ink drawings
Dimensions: Overall: 15 x 12 in. (38.1 x 30.5 cm)
Classification: Albums
Credit Line: From the Robert Isaacson Collection, Gift of James David Draper, 2002
Object Number: 2002.61.1–.94
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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