Midas, Transmuting All into Paper
1797
Artist, British, 1757 - 1815
Publisher, British, c.1745 - 1818

Artwork overview
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Medium
etching with publisher's hand-coloring in watercolor on laid paper
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Credit Line
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Dimensions
plate: 35.3 × 24.8 cm (13 7/8 × 9 3/4 in.)
sheet: 40.8 × 29 cm (16 1/16 × 11 7/16 in.) -
Accession
2015.49.1
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Catalogue Raisonné
Wright and Evans 1851, no. 168
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
(Andrew Edmunds, London); purchased 2015 by NGA.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
2018
Sense of Humor: Caricature, Satire, and the Comical in Prints and Drawings from Leonardo to the Present, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2018 - 2019.
Bibliography
1851
Wright, Thomas and Robert H. Evans. Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray; Comprising a Political and Humorous History of the Latter Part of the Reign of George the Third. London, 1851. Reprint. NY: B. Blom, 1968: no. 168
Inscriptions
lower left in plate: Js. Gy. inv & ft.; lower right in plate: Pub. March 9th 1797 by H. Humphrey New Bond Street; lower center in plate: MIDAS, Transmuting all into GOLD [crossed out] PAPER. / History of Midas, ____ The great Midas having dedicated himself to Bacchus, obtained from that Deity, the power of changing all he Touched / Apollo fixed Asses Ears upon his head, for his Ignorance___ & although he tried to hide his disgrace with a Regal Cap, yet the very Sedges which grew / from the Mud of the Pactolus, whispered out his Infamy, whenever they were agitated by the Wind from the opposite Shore___ Vide Ovids Metamorpho... in image: Power / of securing / Public Credit; Key of Public / Property; Prosperous / State of Britain... ; by later hand, lower right verso in graphite: Kiuress House / 1 11 3 WSMM
Wikidata ID
Q77008471