Thomas Nast

Artist's Biography

"The World's Grown Honest; Then Is Doomsday Near." - Shakspeare. [sic]

Wood engraving, 1873.
Image size 13 1/2x 9" (343 x 229 mm).
Good Condition. LOCATION: New York City

Inventory Number: 48095
Price: $75.00
Publisher : Published by Harpers Weekly, December 27, 1873. Title continues "Uncle Sam. 'Well, whom are you looking for now?'; Diogenes. 'A Dis-Honest Man.'"

Diogenes was an ancient Greek philosopher and is considered one of the greatest practitioners of Cynicism, a belief that one should live a "natural" life, in harmony with nature and themselves, without luxury, and filled with virtue. Stories also tell of him wandering the streets with a lamp in broad day light, using it to assist him in finding ethical people. In this cartoon, however, he intends to use it to find the deceitful. Times were changing. The people were forcing changing. The corrupt officials in Tammany Hall had been ousted in 1871 and in its wake similar individuals and organizations were facing justice. The papers overflowing Uncle Sam's desk show this change with titles like "The N.Y. Herald denounces questionable advertisements falsehood of all kinds and bribes in general," and "Tammany Hall denounces dis-honesty and fraud."

With its title, Nast seems to question how long the peace will last and what demons will rise in its wake. 18th-19th Century Subjects , Caricatures and Satirical , Political

• ADD TO CART
• ADD TO FAVORITES

• Print
• Inquire
• SHARE