A satirist at heart William Hogarth is the first authentic English artist. His painting and engravings of the English society of his time had no precedent in England. His work is deeply theatrical and he referred to himself as a dramatist in paint: ‘My picture is my stage, and men and women my players.’
As a painter Hogarth became famous for his ‘conversation pieces’. These are paintings in several acts of informal groups of people, relatives or friends in their daily surroundings. Such series include ‘The Harlot’s Progress’ (1731) and ‘The Rake’s progress’ (1733-1734) which respectively tell about the rise and fall of a prostitute and of a dissipated man of fashion. ‘Mariage a la mode (1743) is the story in six paintings telling about an arranged marriage which ends in murder and suicide.
Hogarth who as a boy was apprenticed to a plate engraver also produced very popular engravings. The cheap prints of the engravings became the part of the furniture in many English homes.
He believed these prints could teach people moral lessons. He thought, for instance, that the prints of “Beer Street’ and ‘Gin Lane, two 1751 engravings could dissuade people from drinking gin. Indeed, by the middle of the 18th century this habit had reached alarming proportions among the poorer classes. It became a serious social threat.
These two engravings may have been meant to support the ‘Gin Act’ of 1751 which restrained distillation.
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