Page:Bryan's dictionary of painters and engravers, volume 1.djvu/559

 Free Society of Artists in 1763, with whom he exliibited from 1761 to 1769. His first appearance at the exhibition of the Royal Academy was in 1770, and he continued to exhibit there up to 1795. He is said by Haydon to have been dumb, and to have made his fortune by his art in early years; also, to have retired to Wells on account of being disappointed in his hopes of marrying Haydon's mother. He was celebrated for his miniatures and small whole-lengths in water-colours. In this latter style he painted the portrait of Mrs. Billing- ton, exliibited by him in 1778. In 1790 he was appointed painter in enamel to King George III., although he practised very little in his later years. He died at Knowle, near CuUompton, in 1810. The South Kensington Museum has by him a miniature portrait of Captain Swinburne.

CROUTELLE, Louis, a French line-engraver, who executed cliiefiy book-plates and vignettes, was born in Paris in 1765, and was a pupil of I)elaunay. His most interesting work is an alle- gorical portrait of Voltaire, published in the Kehl edition of the philosopher's works, proofs of which are extremely rare. He died in Paris in 1829.

CROWLEY, Nicholas J., was born in Ireland, and was elected a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1838. In that year he came to London, and his works were constantly to be seen in the Royal Academy Exhibitions. The first picture which he exhibited in London, in 1835, was ' The Eventful Consultation,' and had been sent from Belfast, where he then resided. He was highly esteemed as a portrait painter, and was especially clever in painting portrait groups. His death occurred in 1857.

CROWQUILL, Alfred. See Forester, A. H.

CROZIER, J. P., was a French engraver of talent, whose history is unfortunately lost to us. We know only that he flourished about 1646, from which we may conjecture that he was born about 1620. We have by him the following plates, which are very scarce :

The Healiug of the Paralytic. St. John in the Desert. Silenus about to make an offering at the Altar of Bacchus. There is also a plate existing by a J. J. Crozieb, engraved in honour of the appointment of Cardinal Bicchi as Papal Nuncio.

CRUG, LuDWiG. See Kbug.

CRUGER. See Kruger.

CRUIKSHANK, George, the younger son of Lsaac Cruikshank, was born in London in 1792. Very early in life he had a predilection for the sea, but his mother opposed the wish, and urged his father to instruct him in art. This, however, the father refused ; saying, that if George was destined to become an artist, he would find the way without any instruction. The youth applied for admittance into the Royal Academy schools, but was unsuccess- f i:l. His father died when he was still very young ; and when that event took place, he determined to do his best to support his mother. Some wood blocks which his father had on hand were finished by him, and from that time his employment was secured, and his destiny in life fixed. He was soon engaged in a varietv of undertakings. He illustrated with caricatures a monthly periodical (ailed 'The Scourge,' and also one called 'The Meteor,' which he founded in conjunction with a person named Erie. He executed a great deal of this kind of work for Hone, most of whose publi- cations about that time bear the marks of hia active pencil And not only with his pencil did he assist Hone, for to the imagination of the young artist the origin of many of the best political squibs, such as the ' Slap for Slop,' was mainly due. Merely to enumerate the pictorial trifles which that epoch of his career produced, would be an endless task. His was ' The Queen's Matrimonial Ladder,' 'The Man in thfi Moon,' and 'Non mi ricordo '- — all squibs referring to the infamous trial of Queen Caroline. A collection of the political caricatures which were published by Cruikshank at this time would furnish a kind of political his- tory of the day, and would even illustrate many of the changes of opinion which prevailed. The first work of any great importance in which Cruik- shank bore part was the famous ' Life in London,' the original suggestion of which was due to him alone. The original design was to publish a series of tableaux illustrating the bright side of ' life ' in London, and also the reverse. He was ultimately persuaded, however, to develop the idea in collaboration with his brother Robert and Pierce Egan, and the result was that whilst the last-named gentleman derived all the glory of writing one of the most popular books of the time, the wholesome moral which was originally intended was entirely lost sight of. Disgusted with the perversion of liis plan, George Cruikshank virtually left the completion of the plates to his brother Robert. After this, Cruikshank illustrated a periodical called 'The Humourist.' In 1823-26 he illustrated with some capital etchings Grimm's ' German Popular Stories,' and ' Fairy Tales ' ; and soon after published a very curious set of comic prints called ' Points of Humour.' From this time he was called upon to illustrate many of the most popular works of the day. In 1847, although not at that time a tee-totaller, he published a series of eight woodcuts, called 'The Bottle,' which were very successful. To this he next year added ' The Drunkard's Children,' intended to show the terribly degrading effects of the immoderate use of strong drink. He also published, 'Sunday in London,' 'The Gin Trap,' and 'The Gin Juggernaut,' all of which had an immense circulation, and no doubt helped to further the cause of temperance. Whilst he was thus engaged, he was waited upon by some disciples of Father Mathew, who convinced him that ' moderate drinking ' was not the best way to aid the temperance movement, and Cruikshank, entering into the movement with all the fervour of a naturally ardent temperament, became a total abstainer.

In Ms later years George Cruikshank tried oil-painting, but his works in this branch of art are as much caricatures as any etching he ever executed ; yet they betray a marvellous power of grotesque humour and deep insight into human nature. His 'Cinderella,' painted in 1854, is in the South Kensington Museum, and the last and greatest of his efforts in oil-painting, 'The Worship of Bacchus,' painted for the National Temperance League in 1862, is now in the National Gallery. This picture is a crowded and imaginative conception, full of weird fancies, and as a work of art most unsatisfactory. He died in London in 1878, and was buried in St Paul's Cathedral. The following, arranged in chronological order, are the most important of the books which he illustrated with etchings :