The Altercation

Dudley Hardy was a classically trained British artist and illustrator who was educated throughout Europe. He later became a member of the Royal Society of British Artists (1889), the Royal Institute for Painters in Water-Colour (1897), the Sketching Langham Club and the London Sketch Club (of which he was president in 1902 and 1903). As an illustrator he contributed to various magazines, books, postcards and theatre posters, including posters for Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. The Altercation depicts the clash between modern day lifestyle and a more traditional country lifestyle. On the left we see a bright red automobile filled with two fashionable ladies in the backseat, a chauffeur up front next to a burly gentleman at the steering wheel. The gentleman is dressed in the fashionable driver’s attire of the day; a fur coat, leather cap and googles. On the right we see a far less colourful farmer’s wife with a child hugging her dress and a dead goose in her hand. In the backdrop we see the farmer himself, armed with a pitchfork, running towards the altercation. We can conclude that the driver has accidentally hit the goose as he raced down the country road quite oblivious to his surroundings. Needless to say the farmer and his wife are far from happy.