William Hogarth

10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764

William Hogarth (1697-1764) was an English painter and printmaker who pioneered sequential satirical art with 'modern moral subjects' such as A Harlot's Progress, A Rake's Progress, and Marriage A-la-Mode. He also campaigned successfully for the Engravers' Copyright Act of 1735 and wrote the aesthetic treatise The Analysis of Beauty.

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Life events

Born in London
10 November 1697

William Hogarth was born in Bartholomew Close, London, son of a poor Latin teacher whose failed ventures landed the family in debtors' prison.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Apprenticed to the silver engraver Ellis Gamble
c. 1713

Hogarth trained as an engraver of silver plate under Ellis Gamble in Leicester Fields.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Set up as an independent copperplate engraver
April 1720

Hogarth opened his own engraving business in London, producing trade cards, book illustrations, and satirical prints.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Married Jane Thornhill
23 March 1729

Hogarth eloped with Jane Thornhill, daughter of the painter Sir James Thornhill.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published A Harlot's Progress, his first 'modern moral subject'
1732

The six-scene series A Harlot's Progress was a sensational success and established Hogarth's signature genre of serial pictorial satire.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Secured passage of the Engravers' Copyright Act (Hogarth's Act)
1735

Hogarth's lobbying led Parliament to pass the first copyright law protecting engravers, timed to protect his series A Rake's Progress.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Painted the Marriage A-la-Mode series
1743 – 1745

Hogarth produced Marriage A-la-Mode, six paintings satirizing arranged marriages among the fashionable classes.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published The Analysis of Beauty
1753

Hogarth published his treatise on aesthetics, arguing that the serpentine 'line of beauty' underlies visual grace.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Appointed Serjeant Painter to the King
June 1757

Hogarth was appointed Serjeant Painter to King George II, succeeding his brother-in-law John Thornhill.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died in London
26 October 1764

Hogarth died at his house in Leicester Fields, London, and was buried at St Nicholas's churchyard, Chiswick.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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