Thomas Bewick's cheeky woodcuts  Thomas Bewick's woodcuts of
louts, fools and rascals from 18th-century rural life are
miniature masterpieces. Adrian Searle is captivated by their
cruel humour Man on stilts crossing river. Wood engraving by
Thomas Bewick Comic revelation... Man on stilts crossing river.
Wood engraving by Thomas Bewick Photograph: Ikon Gallery/Bewick
Images  How small they are: each of these worlds could fit into
the palm of your hand. There are two on each sheet of paper, one
above the other, lining the walls of the Ikon gallery in
Birmingham in their dozens. From a distance, they look like
little grey smudges or blotted clouds. I get up close,
squinting. A gallery assistant brings a magnifying glass, and
the scene suddenly looms in all its detail. Farms and villages,
rocks and rivers, the walled estates of the rich, the hovels of
the poor.  Populated by a cast of fools and drunks, fishers and
hunters, Thomas Bewick's late 18th-century/early 19th-century
Tale-pieces are full of disconcerting,