Everything about William Hogarth totally explained
William Hogarth (
November 10,
1697 –
October 26,
1764) was a major
English painter,
printmaker, pictorial
satirist,
social critic and editorial
cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering 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 school teacher 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 similar products. 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. 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 an
engraver in his own right, at first engraving coats of arms, shop bills, and designing plates for booksellers.
In
1727, he was hired by Joshua Morris, a tapestry worker, to prepare a design for the
Element of Earth. Morris, however, heard that he was "an engraver, and no painter", and consequently declined the work when completed. Hogarth accordingly sued him for the money in the Westminster Court, where the case was decided in his favour on
May 28,
1728.
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
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's 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 anything else. 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 isn't 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 s,
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" (for example, 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.
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 works 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
In 1731, he completed the earliest of the series of moral works which first gave him recognition 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 ceremony. 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. The original paintings of
A Harlot's Progress were destroyed in the fire at
Fonthill Abbey in 1755;
A Rake's Progress is displayed in the gallery room at
Sir John Soane's Museum, London.
Marriage à-la-mode
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
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), holes up "in a Garrett with a Common Prostitute" after turning
highwayman (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 which showed the effects of drinking
gin which, as a harder liquor, caused more problems for society. People are shown as healthy, happy and prosperous in
Beer Street, while in
Gin Lane they're scrawny, lazy and careless. The woman at the front of
Gin Lane who lets her baby fall to its death, echoes the tale of Judith Dufour who strangled her baby so she could sell its clothes for gin money. The prints were published in support of what would become the
Gin Act 1751.
Hogarth's friend, the magistrate
Henry Fielding, may have enlisted Hogarth to help with propaganda for a Gin Act:
Beer Street and
Gin Lane were issued shortly after his work
An Enquiry into the Causes of the Late Increase of Robbers, and Related Writings and addressed the same issues.
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 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 (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. He claimed to have painted himself into the picture in the corner, with the solder running him in.
Other later works
Notable Hogarth engravings in the 1740s include
The Enraged Musician (1741), the six prints of
Marriage à-la-mode (1745; executed by French artists under Hogarth's inspection), and
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 ingenious
Satire on False Perspective (1753); his satire on canvassing in his
Election series (1755–1758; now in
Sir John Soane's Museum); 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 favor of the living, breathing female. He said, "Who but a bigot, even to the
antiques, will say that he hasn't seen faces and necks, hands and arms in living women, that even the Grecian
Venus doth but coarsely imitate."
Influence and Reputation
His satirical engravings are often considered an important ancestor of the
comic strip.
Hogarth's work were a direct influence on
John Collier, who was known as the "Lancashire Hogarth".
Hogarth's paintings and prints have provided the subject matter for several other works. For example,
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.
Russell Banks's short story, "Indisposed," is a fictional account of Hogarth's infidelity as told from the viewpoint of his long-suffering wife, Jane.
Hogarth's House in Chiswick, West London, is now a museum (free entry); it abuts one of London's best known
road junctions – the
Hogarth Roundabout.
Further Information
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