William Hogarth. William Hogarth was a groundbreaking English artist known for his satirical and moralistic paintings and engravings.
He was a pioneer of narrative art, using sequential images to tell stories and critique society. He was also a vocal advocate for artists' rights, successfully lobbying for the Copyright Act of 1735.
He was influenced by the Dutch Golden Age painters, particularly Jan Steen, who inspired his interest in storytelling and genre painting. Hogarth's Rake's Progress follows the tragic downfall of a young aristocrat due to his reckless lifestyle.
His Marriage a la Mode satirizes the corrupt and superficial nature of high society through the disastrous marriage of two young people. Gin Lane is a powerful indictment of the social problems caused by alcohol consumption in 18th-century London.
Knowledge of his work is so pervasive that satirical political illustrations in this style are often referred to as Hogarthian. He was born in London to a lower-middle-class family. In his youth he took up an apprenticeship with an engraver, but did not complete the apprenticeship. His father underwent periods of mixed fortune, and was at one time imprisoned in lieu of payment of outstanding debts, an event that is thought to have informed William's paintings and prints with a hard edge. Influenced by French and Italian painting and engraving, Hogarth's works are mostly satirical car