Hogarth: A Life and a World.Jenny Uglow. New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : Farrar Straus, 1997. In this well-written eight-hundred page biography you will learn a lot about the artist William Hogarth (1697-1764), who mapped the territory of eighteenth century England with moral and satirical engravings. And you will learn a lot about his times. Hogarth rose from poverty and disgrace at an early age (the "disgrace" due to his father's debts) to achieve success as a painter for his beautifully executed "Beggar's Opera." His first notable series of prints was "A Harlot's Progress A Harlot's Progress (also known as The Harlot's Progress) is a series of six paintings (1731, now lost) and engravings (1732) by William Hogarth. The series shows the story of a young woman, Mary (or Moll) Hackabout, who arrives in London from the country and ," which marked the appearance of a new type of picture, the modern moral subject. The six Harlot prints trace, with closely observed detail and bitter humor, the moral corruption of a young country girl after her arrival in London. "A Rake's Progress A Rake's Progress is a series of eight paintings by William Hogarth. The canvases were produced in 1732-33 then engraved and published in print form in 1735. The series shows the decline and fall of Tom Rakewell, the spendthrift son and heir of a rich merchant, who comes to " tells the tale of an increasingly dissolute dis·so·lute adj. Lacking moral restraint; indulging in sensual pleasures or vices. [Middle English, from Latin dissol young man who ends up in the Bethlehem Royal Hospital ("Bedlam Bedlam: see Bethlem Royal Hospital. bedlam from Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem, former English insane asylum. [Br. Folklore: Jobes, 193] See : Confusion Bedlam (Hospital of St. "), the London insane asylum. (Hogarth's rake has much in common with Fielding's Tom Jones except for the unhappy ending.) The collapse of an aristocratic marriage is cleverly illustrated in "Marriage a la Mode." These series demonstrate the literary quality of Hogarth's art as the plots unfold in a manner similar to the narratives of plays or books. In all of his prints Hogarth proves a keen observer of the life around him. He also founded the most important art academy in London prior to the establishment of the Royal Art Academy, organized the first public exhibition of contemporary art, at the London Foundling Hospital foundling hospital, institution for receiving and caring for abandoned children. In Athens and in Rome until the 4th cent., unwanted children were exposed, or left to die, in appointed places. , and established his intellectual credentials when he published the treatise Analysis of Beauty. In 1757 he was appointed sergeant-painter to King George II. Hogarth's milieu is also well-documented in this book. It is fascinating to read about eighteenth century Georgian London with its Grub Street, gin craze, streetwalkers Streetwalkers were an English rock band of the mid-1970s led by two former members of Family, vocalist Roger Chapman and guitarist John "Charlie" Whitney. Other members included Bob Tench, a former collaborator of Jeff Beck, and Nicko McBrain, who later played drums with Iron , literary and theatrical stars, scams, scandals, disorder, and death. These events and personalities provide rich evidence that our current social problems and controversies are not peculiar to our age. |
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