Esther Chadwick, The Radical Print: Art and Politics in Late Eighteenth-Century Britain

Abstract

Esther Chadwick, currently a lecturer in art history at the Courtauld Institute, presents The Radical Print, a work derived from her doctoral thesis at Yale University. The introduction articulates the book’s primary objectives: firstly, to investigate “late eighteenth-century graphic critique from the point of view of printmaking as an artistic practice,” and secondly, to analyze why print served as a crucial medium for “critical image-making” during this period (1). The term “radical” encompasses both aesthetic innovation and political opposition to authority, aligning with the art and politics emphasized in the subtitle. To establish this connection, Chadwick employs specific philosophical concepts applied to the selected works and ideas of five artists/printmakers: James Barry, John Hamilton Mortimer, James Gillray, Thomas Bewick, and William Blake.