William Hogarth

William Hogarth was a classical English artist, most famous for his Gin Lane and Beer Street etchings as well as many other traditional oil paintings. The article covers the life of William Hogarth and discusses the highlights from an impressive career which continues to attract high levels of interest from art fans in the modern day, particularly within his native Britain.

Beer Street and Gin Lane are seen as important etchings within the development of European art since the Middle Ages, and are rare examples of an artist using his skills to give political comment on society at that time. Specifically in these prints, William Hogarth is underlining the qualities of British beer and warning other against the effects of Gin. These artworks were part of a concerted campaign which eventually led to the Gin Act of the UK which aimed at counteracting the overuse of Gin at that time.

The most famous paintings and etchings by William Hogarth include Beer Street and Gin Lane, The Bench, Characters and Caricaturas, Columbus Breaking the Egg, The Distrest Poet, Emblematical Print on the South Sea Scheme, The Enraged Musician and Five Orders of Periwigs. Hogarth was a skilled artist with wide ranging techniques. During his era, and much less so now, etchings were a common method within art.

Hogarth also created another new idea in art by including a series of works together, which had rarely been done before. The two drawings offer a clear comparison between the effects of gin and beer, leaving the viewer in no doubt as to the message that Hogarth was trying to get across. This entry into political campaigning is now common place but at the time was very rare, with most painters preferring to stick to traditional subjects which would not provoke controversy or undue criticism. Aside from the Beer Street and Gin Lane etchings, Hogarth also created the Marriage a la Mode series of paintings too, which also became respected within his career.

We can conclude that William Hogarth sits at the top of British art during his period and is seen as a truly influential artist that left a legacy in two key areas, namely his political comments that were sent via his etchings, and also being the first notable artist to display series of works together which held a combined communication from the artist. The likes of Monet's Haystacks and Mucha's series of seasons underline how this idea then gained favour with many others that followed on in the centuries after Hogarth.

You can find William Hogarth paintings at Williamhogarth.org.

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