Seriously Funny: Caricature through the Centuries

Exhibition Website

Sep 14 2018 - Jan 27 2019


Seriously Funny: Caricature through the Centuries celebrates the Yale University Art Gallery’s recent acquisition of several important 19th-century French satirical lithographs. 

The exhibition contextualizes these prints within the larger comedic tradition in Europe and America, demonstrating the enduring appeal and impact of visual humor through a selection of prints, drawings, paintings, and sculpture from the 16th to the 20th century. Distinguished by a sense of levity and immediacy, caricature has traditionally been considered inferior to fine art but has been used for centuries by classically trained artists as a vehicle to engage with subjects that are familiar and accessible.

The witty works included in Seriously Funny trace the development of the genre from its inception as a studio exercise to its pointed use in highlighting human foibles and, finally, to its disruptive role as an instrument of political critique.


Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.
Niccolò Boldrini, after Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), Three Monkeys Imitating the Laocoön (or Caricature of the Laocoön), ca. 1545. Woodcut. Yale University Art Gallery, Everett V. Meeks, b.a. 1901, Fund

  • Works on Paper
  • Political / Satire / Documentary
  • Various artists

Exhibition Venues & Dates