William Hogarth (1697-1764)
Hogarth was a printmaker, portrait painter, social critic, and editorial cartoonist.
Aristocratic art collectors did not respect English painters and sought works by Italian masters. Hogarth rejected this view and believed that his work was just as good as those works being bought for substantial amounts from abroad. He decided to create a new type of painting that would appeal to his countrymen.
He is best known for his series of paintings of ‘modern moral subjects’. His most notable paintings, The Harlot’s Progress, The Rake’s Progress, and Marriage a la Mode teach by example, pointing out the foibles of the rich and the depths of degradation of those who have fallen from the narrow path of middle-class virtue.
The paintings, carefully composed as any Italian painting of the classical tradition, are filled with detail and allusions to each other, so that the viewer has the sensation of reading a story without words. These ‘moralizing’ series are regarded as important historical and social documents.
Hogarth helped develop a theoretical foundation for Rococo beauty. His book, Analysis of Beauty, argued that the undulating lines and S-curves prominent in Rococo were the basis for grace and beauty.
He has been heralded as having a keen understanding of human nature and as the most significant English artist of his day.
