William Hogarth

1697–1764

William Hogarth, ‘Gin Lane’ 1751
Gin Lane 1751
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In Tate Britain

Walk Through British Art: 1730

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Rooms

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Biography

William Hogarth FRSA (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic, and editorial cartoonist. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects", perhaps best known being his moral series A Harlot's Progress, A Rake's Progress and Marriage A-la-Mode. Knowledge of his work is so pervasive that satirical political illustrations in this style are often referred to as "Hogarthian".

Hogarth was born in London to a lower middle-class family. In his youth he took up an apprenticeship where he specialised in engraving. His father underwent periods of mixed fortune, and was at one time imprisoned in lieu 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 caricatures, sometimes bawdily sexual, mostly of the first rank of realistic portraiture. They became widely popular and mass-produced via prints in his lifetime, and he was by far the most significant English artist of his generation.

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Conversation piece Modern moral subject Rococo

Artworks

William Hogarth, ‘Gin Lane’ 1751

William Hogarth Gin Lane

1751
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art T01799
William Hogarth, ‘The Painter and his Pug’ 1745

William Hogarth The Painter and his Pug

1745
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art N00112
William Hogarth, ‘O the Roast Beef of Old England (‘The Gate of Calais’)’ 1748

William Hogarth O the Roast Beef of Old England (‘The Gate of Calais’)

1748
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art N01464
William Hogarth, ‘A Scene from ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ VI’ 1731

William Hogarth A Scene from ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ VI

1731
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art N02437
William Hogarth, ‘Satan, Sin and Death (A Scene from Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’)’ c.1735–40

William Hogarth Satan, Sin and Death (A Scene from Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’)

c.1735–40
T00790
William Hogarth, ‘The Strode Family’ c.1738

William Hogarth The Strode Family

c.1738
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art N01153
William Hogarth, ‘Heads of Six of Hogarth’s Servants’ c.1750–5

William Hogarth Heads of Six of Hogarth’s Servants

c.1750–5
N01374
William Hogarth, ‘A Rake’s Progress (plate 8)’ 1735–63

William Hogarth A Rake’s Progress (plate 8)

1735–63
View by appointment T01794
See all 46

Artist as subject

William Hogarth, ‘The Painter and his Pug’ 1745

William Hogarth The Painter and his Pug

1745
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art N00112
William Hogarth, ‘O the Roast Beef of Old England (‘The Gate of Calais’)’ 1748

William Hogarth O the Roast Beef of Old England (‘The Gate of Calais’)

1748
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art N01464
William Hogarth, ‘Sigismunda Mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo’ 1759

William Hogarth Sigismunda Mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo

1759
N01046
William Hogarth, Charles Mosley, ‘O the Roast Beef of Old England (‘The Gate of Calais’)’ 1749

William Hogarth, Charles Mosley O the Roast Beef of Old England (‘The Gate of Calais’)

1749
View by appointment T03918
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study of Female Nude and Hogarth’s ‘Line of Grace’’ c.1830–1

Joseph Mallord William Turner Study of Female Nude and Hogarth’s ‘Line of Grace’

c.1830–1
View by appointment D25529
Walter Richard Sickert, recipient: Ethel Sands, ‘Letter from Walter Sickert to Ethel Sands’ [August–September 1914]

Walter Richard Sickert, recipient: Ethel Sands Letter from Walter Sickert to Ethel Sands

[August–September 1914]
View by appointment TGA 9125/5/55
Godfrey Samuel, recipient: Marie-Louise Von Motesiczky, ‘Postcard from Godfrey Samuel’ 13 July 1963

Godfrey Samuel, recipient: Marie-Louise Von Motesiczky Postcard from Godfrey Samuel

13 July 1963
View by appointment TGA 20129/1/1/241/32
Julian Trevelyan, ‘Scrapbook’ 14 December 1932–[c.1947]

Julian Trevelyan Scrapbook

14 December 1932–[c.1947]
View by appointment TGA 898/1/4
Anita Bartle, Grant Richards (London, UK), ‘This is my Birthday’ 1902

Anita Bartle, Grant Richards (London, UK) This is my Birthday

1902
TGA 969/2/4
See all 11

Film and audio

Listen

MixTate: Lixo on William Hogarth

For the tenth mix in our series, London-based producer Lixo takes inspiration from William Hogarth’s Gin Lane 1751

FIlm meets Art - Ken Loach inspired by William Hogarth
Watch

Film meets Art – Ken Loach inspired by William Hogarth

Ken Loach brings his cinematic eye to the art of William Hogarth

Listen

Late at Tate November: Behind the scenes. Power: Richard Thomas

Join Tate's artist-educator Richard Thomas for a tour and candid discussion on the power behind the early art markets ...
Listen

Writing London

In conjunction with Hogarth, this creative writing workshop explores the urban environment as a source of artistic inspiration and production.
Listen

Mark Hallet on Hogarth

William Hogarth is recognised as the first great artistic chronicler of modern urban experience.
Listen

Introducing Hogarth

Christine Riding, co-curator of Hogarth, introduces the key theme of the exhibition, which presents Hogarth’s work as strikingly modern ...
Listen

Stravinsky's Progress

Igor Stravinsky first saw William Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress engravings in Chicago in 1946 and soon embarked on ...
Still image of Cartoonist Martin Rowson talks about Hogarth's London
Watch

Cartoonist Martin Rowson talks about Hogarth's London

Current Exhibition: Hogarth

Listen

Hogarth Study Day – Part 2

An audio recording from the Hogarth Study Day held at Tate Britain. William Hogarth is recognised as the first great ...
Listen

Hogarth Study Day – Part 1

An audio recording from the Hogarth study day held at Tate Britain. William Hogarth is recognised as the first great ...

Features

Philip Mercier, ‘A Music Party’ c.1737–40
Art Term

Rococo

Light, sensuous, intensely decorative French style developed in the early eighteenth century following death of Louis XIV and in reaction ...

Robert Braithwaite Martineau, ‘The Last Day in the Old Home’ 1862
Art Term

Genre painting

The term genre painting refers to paintings which depict scenes of everyday life

Philip Mercier, ‘The Schutz Family and their Friends on a Terrace’ 1725
Art Term

Conversation piece

A conversation piece is an informal group portrait popular in the eighteenth century, small in scale and showing people – ...

William Hogarth, ‘The Enraged Musician’ 1741
Art Term

Engraving

Engraving is a printmaking technique that involves making incisions into a metal plate which retain the ink and form the ...

William Hogarth, ‘A Scene from ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ VI’ 1731
Art Term

Modern moral subject

The modern moral subject is a type of painting that was invented by English artist William Hogarth (1697–1764), which satirizes ...

British School 17th century, ‘The Cholmondeley Ladies’ c.1600–10
Art Term

Portrait

A portrait is a representation of a particular person. A self-portrait is a portrait of the artist by the artist

Plan of Tate Gallery in 1914
Read

2: Collection and Display: National beginnings

This curatorial essay by Tim Batchelor explores how British art as displayed at the Tate began with Hogarth. Written to ...
William Hogarth, ‘The Painter and his Pug’ 1745
Read

1: Hogarth at the Tate

Curatorial essay by Tim Batchelor to accompany BP Spotlight: William Hogarth 1697–1764, Tate Britain 27 October 2014 – 26 April ...
William Hogarth, ‘O the Roast Beef of Old England (‘The Gate of Calais’)’ 1748
Tate Etc

William Hogarth's O the Roast Beef of Old England ('The Gate of Calais'): Tate Etc. at Tate Britain / Artists' Perspectives

In celebration of the reopening of Tate Britain, Tate Etc. invited a selection of artists from around the world to ...

Patrick Keiller Still from Robinson in Ruins 2010
Tate Papers

The Military-Pastoral Complex: Contemporary Representations of Militarism in the Landscape: Art & Environment

Examining works of contemporary art that have engaged with militarised landscapes, Matthew Flintham reflects on the ruination of outmoded military ...

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