From the maze-like contraptions of Rube Goldberg to the incisive political drawings of Thomas Nast, cartoons rivet public attention to issues of the day through their comic wit and visual satire.
This exhibition featured a fascinating collection of over 30 works created between 1880 and 1945, selected from the museum's rich collection of American illustration. It included cartoons by some of America's most famous illustrators of the late 19th through early 20th centuries, including Oscar Cesare, Charles Dana Gibson, Rube Goldberg, John Held, Jr., Edward Kemble, Rockwell Kent, Orson Lowell, Rose O'Neill, Frederic Burr Opper, Thomas Nast and many others. Their drawings showed a variety of styles and techniques that rendered incisive visual opinions about topical events, from political issues, business practices, and social morés, to even the act of viewing art.