WILLIAM HOGARTH 1697-1764

William Hogarth is most well-known for his satirical and comic narrative painting. He was born in London, getting his artistic start as an engraver and apprentice book illustrator. His paintings portray the foolishness of the aristocracy and, although a bit more sympathetic, the middle class.

A non-conformist, Hogarth fought the "proper" style of his time. He was drawn to intellectuals and artists both. He strongly contradicted acceptable standards of art, creating any number of enemies, including many at court. Not particularly interested in classical styles, he painted stories of everyday life, providing observations on human behavior (similar to Brueghel the Elder) while simultaneously poking fun at it.

Hograth through his paintings preached social responsibility. He saw great virtue in art and expressed this throughout his career in his work. He also lived up to his conviction. As the governor of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, he decorated the main staircase with his paintings. Among his other hospital work, he convinced a number of other artists to provide support through donations of their work to the Foundling Hospital. This was the beginnings of the Royal Academy.

Theatre was of great interest to Hogarth and this is also evidenced in his paintings including a portrait of the actor David Garrick portraying Richard III, and perhaps his most famous work, that based on John Gay's The Beggar's Opera . This work is typical of his narratives expressed through a series of paintings. Other like works include Marriage A La Mode and The Rake's Progress. The latter work was stalled in publication due to political maneuvering on the part of Hogarth. After seeing some of his work being pirated, Hogarth began a campaign to guarentee copyright protection through influential friends, resulting in a law commonly referred to as "Hogarth's Act of 1735".

Although his style is clearly quite different, Hogarth was strongly influenced by the Rococo style and the work of Antoine Watteau.