[England]
Hogarth William, *10 November 1697 London, †25 October 1764 London, an English painter and printmaker, known as the ‘father of English painting’. Having lived in London all his life, he was a keen observer of the realities of city life, capturing them as they unfolded. His unique talent found its fullest expression in his grand didactic and moralising series, which were a kind of narrative in pictures born of a spirit of social criticism: A Harlot’s Progress (1732), A Rake’s Progress (1735), Mariage à la mode* (‘a fashionable marriage’ 1744–45), Industry and Idleness (1732). Hogarth was convinced that art should depict life, and that “those subjects that will both entertain and improve the mind bid fair to be of the greatest public utility and must, therefore, be entitled to rank in the highest class” (according to his autobiographical manuscript). Picture stories about a prostitute, a spendthrift, a fashionable married couple and a lazy man — mass-produced mainly as copperplate engravings — brought Hogarth great fame and prosperity. The narrative nature of these works stems from the artist’s adoption of the role of a “dramatic writer” who, in successive depictions, develops the principle of “infinite variety”. In his paintings and engravings, Hogarth did not confine himself to depicting a single moment in the story, but — through numerous details and symbolic and social allusions, by highlighting objects displayed, as it were, for show, and through the characters and their gestures — sought to bring the main theme of the work closer to the viewer and explain it. By composing his works according to dramatic principles, with skilfully balanced elements of tragedy and farce, Hogarth indicated “my picture was my stage and men and women my actors who were […] to exhibit a dumb shew”. The tradition of theatre and dramatic art was of paramount importance to Hogarth. It is a distinctly English tradition; alongside moralising, it gave rise to theatrical realism, which reached its zenith in the success of J. Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera (1728). The burlesque nature of the work was very much in keeping with Hogarth’s aesthetic principles; between 1728 and 1730, he produced a series of oil paintings, sketches and engravings illustrating scenes from the famous opera. His connection with the theatre, of which Hogarth was a great enthusiast, was expressed through his illustrations of performances, portraits of actors (e.g. the famous D. Garrick as Richard III, 1745), musicians (A Rake’s Progress), singers (Mariage à la mode), a choral ensemble (A Chorus of Singers, 1732), composers (a portrait of G.F. Handel, 1726) and street performers (The Enraged Musician, 1741). The last of these engravings inspired a ballad opera (premiered in 1789) by S. Arnold. Hogarth’s close connection with English theatre dates back to more recent times, namely to the revival of The Beggar’s Opera, notably in the work of B. Britten (1948), published with a print by Hogarth. The finest musical works based on The Rake’s Progress are I. Stravinsky’s opera (1948–51) and G. Gordon’s ballet (premiered in 1935).
Literature: A. Cunningham The Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters, vol. 1, annotated by Mrs C. Heaton, revised edition London 1879; J. Białostocki Hogarth, Warsaw 1959; F. Antal Hogarth and His Place in European Art, London 1962; William Hogarth. Das graphische Werk, ed. J. Burke, Vienna 1968; R. Paulson William Hogarth, transl. H. Andrzejewska, Z. Potkowska, Warsaw 1984, J. Uglow The great showman “The Guardian”, 13 January 2007, available at www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2007/jan/13/art.classics (accessed 14 May 2026)