Born: 1764 month? day? in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

Died: 1811 month? day? in London, England, United Kingdom

Biography: Isaac Cruikshank was a Scottish painter and caricaturist who spent most of his career in London. Cruikshank is known for his social and political satire. His sons Isaac Robert Cruikshank (1789–1856) and George Cruikshank (1792–1878) also became artists, and the latter in particular achieved fame as an illustrator and caricaturist.

A contemporary of James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson, Cruikshank was part of what has been called "the Golden Age of British Caricature." He was an avid and skilled water colorist, and had a "keen sense of humour", although his achievements during his shortened life suffered from the greater successes and "more prolonged career of his gifted son."

There are believed to be at least 345 prints created by Isaac Cruikshank between 1793 and 1800 that are in the British Museum's collection. E.B. Crumbier created a catalogue of around 1350 images that Cruikshank produced in his lifetime. In Huntington Library, California, there is also a collection of his watercolor drawings.

Cruikshank, like his son Isaac Robert Cruikshank and more famous son George Cruikshank, was a pioneer in the history of comics for creating several cartoons which make use of narrative sequences and/or speech balloons.


Name:

    Isaac Cruikshank Type: Name at Birth
    Given name: Isaac Family name: Cruikshank

Relations:

  1. Parent of - George Cruikshank (b. 1792)
  2. Parent of - Isaac Robert Cruikshank (b. 1789)