   #copyright

William Hogarth

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Artists

              William Hogarth
   William Hogarth, self-portrait, 1745
         Born 10 November 1697
              London
      Died    26 October 1764
              London
   Occupation English painter, engraver

   William Hogarth ( November 10, 1697 – October 26, 1764) was a major
   English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, and editorial
   cartoonist who has been credited as a pioneer in western sequential
   art. His work ranged from excellent realistic portraiture to comic
   strip-like series of pictures called “modern moral subjects.” Much of
   his work, though at times vicious, poked fun at contemporary politics
   and customs. Illustrations in such style are often referred to as
   Hogarthian.

Life

   The son of a poor schoolteacher and textbook writer, William Hogarth
   was born at Bartholomew Close in London on November 10, 1697. In his
   youth he was apprenticed to the engraver Ellis Gamble in Leicester
   Fields, where he learned to engrave trade cards and the like. Young
   William also took a lively interest in the street life of the
   metropolis and the London fairs, and amused himself by sketching the
   characters he saw. At around the same time, his father, who had opened
   an unsuccessful Latin-speaking coffee house at St John's Gate, was
   imprisoned for debt in Fleet Prison for five years. Hogarth never
   talked about the fact. By April 1720 he was engraver on his own
   account, at first engraving coats of arms, shop bills, and designing
   plates for booksellers.
   Statue of Hogarth, Leicester Square, London.
   Statue of Hogarth, Leicester Square, London.

   In 1727, he was hired by Joshua Morris, a tapestry worker, to prepare a
   design for the Element of Earth. Morris, however, having heard that he
   was "an engraver, and no painter", declined the work when completed,
   and Hogarth accordingly sued him for the money in the Westminster
   Court, where, on the May 28, 1728, the case was decided in Hogarth's
   favour.

   On March 23, 1729 he was married to Jane Thornhill, daughter of artist
   Sir James Thornhill.

   In 1757, he was appointed Serjeant Painter to the King.

   Hogarth died in London on October 26, 1764 and was buried at St.
   Nicholas's Churchyard, Chiswick Mall, Chiswick, London. His friend the
   actor David Garrick wrote the inscription on his tombstone.

Works

Early works

   An early print by William Hogarth entitled A Just View of the British
   Stage from 1724, depicting Robert Wilks, Colley Cibber, and Barton
   Booth rehearsing a pantomime play with puppets enacting a prison break
   down a privy, combining the popular plays Dr Faustus and Harlequin
   Sheppard with the fictional Scaramouch Jack Hall, based on the escape
   of a felon from Newgate. The "play" is comprised of nothing but special
   effects, and the scripts for Hamlet, inter al., are toilet paper.
   An early print by William Hogarth entitled A Just View of the British
   Stage from 1724, depicting Robert Wilks, Colley Cibber, and Barton
   Booth rehearsing a pantomime play with puppets enacting a prison break
   down a privy, combining the popular plays Dr Faustus and Harlequin
   Sheppard with the fictional Scaramouch Jack Hall, based on the escape
   of a felon from Newgate. The "play" is comprised of nothing but special
   effects, and the scripts for Hamlet, inter al., are toilet paper.

   Early satirical works included an Emblematical Print on the South Sea
   Scheme (c. 1721), about the disastrous stock market crash of 1720 known
   as the South Sea Bubble, in which many English people lost a great deal
   of money. In the bottom left corner, he shows Protestant, Catholic, and
   Jewish figures gambling, while in the middle there is a huge machine,
   like a merry-go-round, which people are boarding. At the top is a goat,
   written below which is "Who'l Ride" and this shows the stupidity of
   people in following the crowd in buying stock in The South Sea Company,
   which spent more time issuing stock than actually producing anything.
   The people are scattered around the picture with a real sense of
   disorder, which represented the confusion. The progress of the well
   dressed people towards the ride in the middle shows how foolish some
   people could be, which is not entirely their own fault.

   Other early works include The Lottery ( 1724); The Mystery of Masonry
   brought to Light by the Gormogons (1724); A Just View of the British
   Stage (1724); some book illustrations; and the small print, Masquerades
   and Operas (1724). The latter is a satire on contemporary follies, such
   as the masquerades of the Swiss impresario John James Heidegger, the
   popular Italian opera singers, John Rich's pantomimes at Lincoln's Inn
   Fields, and last not least, the exaggerated popularity of Lord
   Burlington's protégé, the architect and painter William Kent. He
   continued that theme in 1727, with the Large Masquerade Ticket. In 1726
   Hogarth prepared twelve large engravings for Samuel Butler's Hudibras.
   These he himself valued highly, and are among his best book
   illustrations.

   In the following years he turned his attention to the production of
   small " conversation pieces" (i.e., groups in oil of full-length
   portraits from 12 to 15 in. high). Among his efforts in oil between
   1728 and 1732 were The Fountaine Family (c. 1730), The Assembly at
   Wanstead House, The House of Commons examining Bambridge, and several
   pictures of the chief actors in John Gay's popular The Beggar's Opera.
   The Beggar's Opera VI, 1731, Tate Britain's version (22.5 x 30 ins.)
   The Beggar's Opera VI, 1731, Tate Britain's version (22.5 x 30 ins.)

   One of his masterpieces of this period is the depiction of an amateur
   performance of John Dryden's The Indian Emperor, or The Conquest of
   Mexico (1732–1735) at the home of John Conduitt, master of the mint, in
   St George's Street, Hanover Square.

   Hogarth's other prints in the 1730s include A Midnight Modern
   Conversation ( 1733), Southwark Fair (1733), The Sleeping Congregation
   ( 1736), Before and After (1736), Scholars at a Lecture (1736), The
   Company of Undertakers (Consultation of Quacks) (1736), The Distrest
   Poet (1736), The Four Times of the Day ( 1738), and Strolling Actresses
   dressing in a Barn (1738). He may also have printed Burlington Gate (
   1731), evoked by Alexander Pope's Epistle to Lord Burlington, and
   defending Lord Chandos, who is therein satirized. This print gave great
   offence, and was suppressed (some modern authorities, however, no
   longer attribute this to Hogarth).

Moralizing art

Harlot's and Rake's Progresses

   A Rake's Progress, Plate 8, 1735
   A Rake's Progress, Plate 8, 1735

   In 1731, he completed the earliest of the series of moral works which
   first gave him his position as a great and original genius. This was A
   Harlot's Progress, first as paintings (now lost), and then published as
   engravings. In its six scenes, the miserable fate of a country girl who
   began a prostitution career in town is traced out remorselessly from
   its starting point, the meeting of a bawd, to its shameful and degraded
   end, the whore's death of venereal disease and the following merciless
   funeral ceremonial. The series was an immediate success, and was
   followed in 1735 by the sequel A Rake's Progress showing in eight
   pictures the reckless life of Tom Rakewell, the son of a rich merchant,
   who wastes all his money on luxurious living, whoring and gambling, and
   ultimately finishes his life in Bedlam.

Four Times of the Day

   The Four Times of the Day series (1738) shows his version of the
   traditional times of the day theme in art; of events taking place at
   morning, noon, afternoon and night. In Morning, there is a wealthy
   woman on the way to church, who avoids making eye contact with the
   couple on the right or the beggar below her, speaking of the hypocrisy
   of some church goers by acting pious but ignoring their fellow people.
   The next print, Noon, continues the theme, with well dressed people
   exiting the church on the right, while there are poorer people
   suffering on the left, a line in the middle of the picture in the road
   actually dividing the two classes. It shows clearly the gap in society
   between the upper and lower classes. While the rich look ridiculous and
   haughty in their fine costumes, the poor are more concerned with food
   and sex. In fact, the main building in 'Noon' from which people are
   emerging is a church. It is a rare representation of the now demolished
   Greek Church in Hogs Lane, (which later became Greek Street). It was
   built by London's 17th century Greek community and, in 1682, was taken
   over as a French Protestant Church by the Huguenots but was always
   known as 'L'eglise des Grecs'. The engraving also shows what looks like
   an African Londoner on the left, with his arms round the lady holding
   the tray.

Marriage à-la-mode

   Marriage à-la-mode, Shortly After the Marriage (scene two of six).
   Marriage à-la-mode, Shortly After the Marriage (scene two of six).

   In 1743– 1745 Hogarth painted the six pictures of Marriage à-la-mode
   (National Gallery, London), a pointed skewering of upper class 18th
   century society. This moralistic warning shows the miserable tragedy of
   an ill-considered marriage for money. This is regarded by many as his
   finest project, certainly the best example of his serially-planned
   story cycles.

   Marital ethics were the topic of much debate in 18th-century Britain.
   Frequent marriages of convenience and their attendant unhappiness came
   in for particular criticism, with a variety of authors taking the view
   that love was a much sounder basis for marriage. Hogarth here painted a
   satire – a genre that by definition has a moral point to convey – of a
   conventional marriage within the English upper class. All the paintings
   were engraved and the series achieved wide circulation in print form.
   The series, which are set in a Classical interior, shows the story of
   the fashionable marriage of the son of bankrupt Earl Squanderfield to
   the daughter of a wealthy but miserly city merchant, starting with the
   signing of a marriage contract at the Earl's mansion and ending with
   the murder of the son by his wife's lover and the suicide of the
   daughter after her lover is hanged at Tyburn for murdering her husband.

Industry and Idleness

   Industry and Idleness, plate 11, The Idle 'Prentice executed at Tyburn
   Industry and Idleness, plate 11, The Idle 'Prentice executed at Tyburn

   In the twelve prints of Industry and Idleness (1747) Hogarth shows the
   progression in the lives of two apprentices, one who is dedicated and
   hard working, the other idle which leads to crime and his execution.
   This shows the work ethic of Protestant England, where those who work
   hard get rewarded, such as the industrious apprentice who becomes
   Sheriff (plate 8), Alderman (plate 10) and finally the Lord Mayor of
   London in the last plate in the series. The idle apprentice, who begins
   with being "at play in the church yard" (plate 3), ends up "in a
   Garrett with a Common Prostitute" (plate 7) and "executed at Tyburn"
   (plate 11) The idle apprentice is sent to the gallows by the
   industrious apprentice himself.

Beer Street and Gin Lane

   Later important prints include his pictorial warning of the unpleasant
   consequences of alcoholism in Beer Street and Gin Lane ( 1751) Hogarth
   engraved Beer street to show a happy city drinking the 'good' beverage
   of English beer, versus Gin Lane that showed what would happen if
   people started drinking gin which, as a harder liquor, would cause more
   problems for society. People are shown as healthy, happy and hard
   working in Beer Street, while in Gin lane they are scrawny, lazy and
   acting carelessly. The woman at the front echos the tale of a woman
   released from prison who crazed for gin rips off her babies clothes to
   sell for gin money and then abandons the child to die. The prints were
   published partly to support the 1751 Gin Act. The magistrate, Henry
   Fielding, supposedly informed Hogarth of these proceedings, to help
   with propaganda for a Gin Act, which his work An Enquiry into the
   Causes of the Late Increase of Robbers, and Related Writings hoped to
   achieve.

The Four Stages of Cruelty

   Other prints were his outcry against inhumanity in The Four Stages of
   Cruelty (1751); a series which Hogarth intended to show some of the
   terrible habits of criminals. In the first picture there are scenes of
   torture of dogs, cats and other animals. In the second it shows one of
   the characters from the first painting, Tom Nero, has now become a
   coach driver, and his cruelty to his horse caused it to break its leg.
   In the third painting Tom is shown as a murderer, with the woman he
   killed lying on the ground, while in the fourth, titled Reward of
   Cruelty, the murderer is shown being dissected by scientists after his
   execution. Hogarth is thus using the series to say what will happen to
   people who carry on in this manner. This shows what crimes people were
   concerned with in this time, the method of execution, and the
   dissection reflects upon the 1752 Act of Parliament which had just
   being passed allowing for the dissection of executed criminals who had
   been convicted for murder. It shows his reaction against the cruel
   treatment of animals which he saw around him, that he wished could be
   stopped.

Portraits

   Hogarth's portrait of Captain Thomas Coram, 1740
   Hogarth's portrait of Captain Thomas Coram, 1740

   Hogarth was also a popular portrait painter. In 1746 he painted actor
   David Garrick as Richard III, for which he was paid £200, “which was
   more,” he wrote, “than any English artist ever received for a single
   portrait.” In the same year a sketch of Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat,
   afterwards beheaded on Tower Hill, had an exceptional success.
   Hogarth's truthful, vivid full-length portrait of his friend, the
   philanthropic Captain Coram ( 1740; formerly Thomas Coram Foundation
   for Children, now Foundling Museum), and his unfinished oil sketch of
   The Shrimp Girl (National Gallery, London) may be called masterpieces
   of British painting.

Historical subjects

   During a long period of his life, Hogarth tried to achieve the status
   of history painter, but had no great success in this field.

Biblical scenes

   Examples of his history pictures are The Pool of Bethesda and The Good
   Samaritan, executed in 1736– 1737 for St Bartholomew's Hospital; Moses
   brought before Pharaoh's Daughter, painted for the Foundling Hospital (
   1747, formerly at the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children, now in the
   Foundling Museum); Paul before Felix ( 1748) at Lincoln's Inn; and his
   altarpiece for St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol ( 1756).

The Gate of Calais

   The Gate of Calais (also known as, O the Roast Beef of Old England,
   1749
   The Gate of Calais (also known as, O the Roast Beef of Old England,
   1749

   The Gate of Calais ( 1748; now in Tate Britain) was produced soon after
   his return from a visit to France. Horace Walpole wrote that Hogarth
   had run a great risk to go there since the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle,

     he went to France, and was so imprudent as to be taking a sketch of
     the drawbridge at Calais. He was seized and carried to the governor,
     where he was forced to prove his vocation by producing several
     caricatures of the French; particularly a scene of the shore, with
     an immense piece of beef landing for the lion d'argent, the English
     inn at Calais, and several hungry friars following it. They were
     much diverted with his drawings, and dismissed him.

   Back home, he immediately executed a painting of the subject in which
   he unkindly represented his enemies, the Frenchmen, as cringing,
   emaciated and superstitious people, while an enormous sirloin of beef
   arrives, destined for the English inn as a symbol of British prosperity
   and superiority.

Other later works

   March of the Guards to Finchley (1750), a satirical depiction of troops
   mustered to defend London from the 1745 Jacobite rebellion.
   March of the Guards to Finchley (1750), a satirical depiction of troops
   mustered to defend London from the 1745 Jacobite rebellion.
   A late painting by Hogarth entitled Hogarth's Servants, mid-1750s.
   A late painting by Hogarth entitled Hogarth's Servants, mid-1750s.

   Notable Hogarth engravings in the 1740s included The Enraged Musician (
   1741), the six prints of Marriage à-la-mode ( 1745; executed by French
   artists under Hogarth's inspection), The Stage Coach or The Country Inn
   Yard ( 1747),

   In 1745 Hogarth painted a self-portrait with his dog (now also in Tate
   Britain), which shows him as a learned artist supported by volumes of
   Shakespeare, Milton and Swift. In 1749, he represented the somewhat
   disorderly English troops on their March of the Guards to Finchley
   (formerly Thomas Coram Foundation for Children, now Foundling Museum).

   Others were his satire on canvassing in his Election series ( 1755–
   1758); his ridicule of the English passion for cockfighting in The
   Cockpit ( 1759); his attack on Methodism in Credulity, Superstition,
   and Fanaticism ( 1762); his political anti-war satire in The Times,
   plate I (1762); and his pessimistic view of all things in Tailpiece, or
   The Bathos ( 1764).

Writing

   Hogarth also wrote and published his ideas of artistic design in his
   book The Analysis of Beauty ( 1753). In it, he professes to define the
   principles of beauty and grace which he, a real child of Rococo, saw
   realized in serpentine lines (the Line of Beauty).

Analysis

Painter and engraver of modern moral subjects

   Hogarth lived in an age when artwork became increasingly commercialized
   and viewed in shop windows, taverns and public buildings and sold in
   printshops. Old hierarchies broke down, and new forms began to
   flourish: the ballad opera, the bourgeois tragedy, and especially, a
   new form of fiction called the novel with which authors such as Henry
   Fielding had great success. Therefore, by that time, Hogarth hit on a
   new idea: "painting and engraving modern moral subjects ... to treat my
   subjects as a dramatic writer; my picture was my stage", as he himself
   remarked in his manuscript notes.

   He drew from the highly moralizing Protestant tradition of Dutch genre
   painting, and the very vigorous satirical traditions of the English
   broadsheet and other types of popular print. In England the fine arts
   had little comedy in them before Hogarth. His prints were expensive,
   and remained so until early nineteenth-century reprints brought them to
   a wider audience.

Parodic borrowings from the Old Masters

   When analyzing the work of the artist as a whole, Ronald Paulson, the
   modern authority on Hogarth, sees an accomplished parodist at work, and
   a subversive. He says, "In A Harlot's Progress, every single plate but
   one is based on Dürer's images of the story of the Virgin and the story
   of the Passion." In other works, he parodies Leonardo da Vinci's Last
   Supper. According to Paulson, Hogarth is subverting the religious
   establishment and the orthodox belief in an immanent God who intervenes
   in the lives of people and produces miracles. Indeed, Hogarth was a
   Deist, a believer in a God who created the universe but takes no direct
   hand in the lives of his creations. Thus, as a "comic history painter",
   he often poked fun at the old-fashioned, "beaten" subjects of religious
   art in his paintings and prints. Hogarth also rejected Lord
   Shaftesbury's then current ideal of the classical Greek male in favour
   of the living, breathing female. He said, "Who but a bigot, even to the
   antiques, will say that he has not seen faces and necks, hands and arms
   in living women, that even the Grecian Venus doth but coarsely
   imitate."

Influence

   His satirical engravings are often considered an important ancestor of
   the comic strip.

   Igor Stravinsky's opera The Rake's Progress, with libretto by W. H.
   Auden, was inspired by Hogarth's series of paintings of that title

Trivia

     * Hogarth's original paintings for A Rake's Progress can be seen in
       the painting room at the Sir John Soane Museum.
     * Hogarth's House in Chiswick, West London, is now a museum (free
       entry).
     * Hogarth's House abuts onto one of London's best known road
       junctions – the Hogarth Roundabout (named after Hogarth).
     * Russell Banks short story, "Indisposed," is a fictional account of
       Hogarth's infidelity as told from the viewpoint of his
       long-suffering wife, Jane.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hogarth"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
