Punch the British humorous magazine had originally been rdical in the 1840's but soon pitched its contents towards sensibel middle class men. The quality of the writing and image making was often of a highest order but, as a matter of course, it pitched into the aesthetic movement from the 1860's onwards for its affectation, its ideals and its seeming feminisation.

The most sustained attack was on Oscar Wilde, shown corrupt and overblown.Dumaurier's sequence attacked the Pre-Raphaelite Movement, although the artist himself had excellent connections with the main protagonists. See 'anti-aesthetic' section.

see also Harry Furniss's satirical Christmas Cards where Wilde is drawn with young male company, the Call Boy, Haymarket Theatre as Sleeping Beauty.

The attack on Art in Punch became obsessive and vicious. What had it to offer in return? Raven Hill and E.T.Reed, and many unfunny cartoons about hunting and vicars.