First rule, as ever, is don’t go to this exhibition on a Saturday. Small, detailed prints and engravings and large, bustling crowds do not mix. The prints themselves, though, and when you get up close enough, are outstanding.
The original two-dimensional work shown in this image is free content because its copyright has expired.
More than anyone else of the era, Hogarth was an ilustrator, an artist and an incredibly canny businessman. He seems to have invented the comic strip, or at least the art of creating sequences of related pictures telling a story. He was truly a product of his times, and his skills as an artist combined with his strong moral convictions appears to be unique.
The exhibition takes us through the various areas of his work, including the famous “Rake’s Progress” and “Harlot’s Progress”, “Gin Lane” and “Beer Lane” illustrations. We also get the society portaiture and historical scenes, some of which he donated to the Foundling Hospital, an organisation set up to help deserted children, and of which he was a governor.
His work gives us insight into the state of the media at the time. A piece such as Gin Lane, for example, is intricately engraved and presents a compelling satirical message. Today we fill our newspapers with daily, almost throwaway political cartoons, the artistry of which is necessarily rough around the edges. Their meaning is presented in ever more succinct shorthand, although this may equally reflect the increased political and social awareness of the readership. But in Hogarth’s time this and his other cartoons, prints and paintings were expensive and hard to come by. Did they have more inherent value as a result? It’s hard to say, when we live in an era where we are surrounded by almost universally available publishing, where anyone can easily and electronically disseminate their artwork, journalism or opinions. But as a respected artist his views certainly carried a particular weight, combining medium and message elegantly and powerfully.