William Hogarth

"The Beggars Opera" and " A Just View of The British Stage" Original Etchings

1822

Etching from the series titled "A Harlots Progress" by William Hogarth. The series consists of six paintings and engravings. The story is about a woman named M. Hackabout who arrived in London and started working as a prostitute. The third plate is of her getting arrest for her choice in profession. The series is a satirical story that emphasizes the dangers of being a prostitute and the health risks that come from it. In 18th century engraving, the detail of the black mole on women and men's face is a symbol of the deadly venereal disease, syphilis. In this plate, Hackabout has already contracted the disease and that is why the black dot is visible on her forehead as well as her madam's. In 1828, William Innell Clement published Harlot's Progress in columns on a single page of his newspaper Bell's Life in London #330. The detail with the cross seen in earlier reproductions of the engraving. Dimensions without Frame: H 14.5 in x W 16.5 in. Artist Biography: William Hogarth ( 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 to be his moral series A Harlot's Progress, A Rake's Progress and Marriage A...

Surreal modern black and white etching by Texas based artist Lucas Johnson. The work features a prone figure wrapped in a blanket next ...

The two plates in this set were created utilizing both engraving and etching techniques by William Hogarth in 1753, originally as illustrations of his book on aesthetics, entitled "Analysis of Beauty". Due to their popularity, these plates were later published separately. The publication line in the lower right reads: "Designed, Engraved, and Publish'd by Wm. Hogarth, March 5th 1753, according to Act of Parliament." Hogarth's original copper plates were refurbished where needed by James Heath and engravings were republished in London in 1822 by Braddock, Cradock & Joy. This was the last time Hogarth's copper plates were used for printing. Most were melted during World War I for the construction of bombs. These large folio sized "Analysis of Beauty" engravings are presented in antiqued gold-colored frames with double mats; the outer silk mats are light brown-colored and the inner mats are dark brown. Each frame measures 27.38" x 31.25" x 1.13". There is one tiny spot in the right margin of plate 1 and another in the lower margin; the latter could be from the printing process. The prints are otherwise in excellent condition. The "Analysis of Beauty" series is in the collection of many major museums, including: The British Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Tate Museum, The Chicago Art Institute and The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The first engraving (Plate 1) depicts a courtyard of statues which is filled with some of the most famous works of classical sculpture. The most important sculptures are surrounded by less impressive works. The Medicean Venus (#13) is in the center with a statue of Julius Caesar (#19) to the right, elevated on a pulley with a short, overdressed Brutus stands over the falling Caesar. The Apollo Belvedere (#12) is next. A judge stands to the right with his foot on a cherub (#16). Another crying cherub holds a gallows and wipes his tears with the judge's robe. A sphinx (#21) and the drunken Silenus (#107) are below the Venus. Michaelangelo's torso (#54) and a statue of Antonius (#6) are seen in the foreground. The Farnese Hercules (#3) and a bust of another Hercules (#4) under two statuettes of Isis are also included in the scene. The key to these objects is included in the form of a serpentine line winding around a cone (#26), Hogarth's "Line of Beauty". For Hogarth the winding line is an essential element of beauty in art. Hogarth's theory of beauty is communicated in this plate. Plate 2 is thought to represent the Wanstead Assembly, with the Earl of Tynley and his household. It is an adaptation of a scene in the Happy Marriage series, which complements Hogarth's Marriage à la Mode...

Measurements Engravings 10.5 x 7 inches sight Framed 14.875 x 11.5 inches The Company of Undertakers (1737) is a satirical print by William Hogarth that mocks the medical professi...