But if Hogarth was not successful with his dramas on canvas, he
occasionally shared with his contemporaries in the popularity of
portrait painting. For a picture, executed in 1746, of Garrick as
Richard III. he was paid L200, "which was more," says he, "than any
English artist ever received for a single portrait." In the same year a
sketch of Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, afterwards beheaded on Tower Hill,
had an exceptional success.
We must content ourselves with a brief enumeration of the most important
of his remaining works. These are "The Stage Coach or Country Inn Yard"
(1747); the series of twelve plates entitled "Industry and Idleness"
(1747), depicting the career of two London apprentices; the "Gate of
Calais" (1749), which had its origin in a rather unfortunate visit paid
to France by the painter after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle; the "March
to Finchley" (1750); "Beer Street," "Gin Lane" and the "Four Stages of
Cruelty" (1751); the admirable representations of election humours in
the days of Sir Robert Walpole, entitled "Four Prints of an Election"
(1755-1758); and the plate of "Credulity, Superstition and Fanaticism, a
Medley" (1762), adapted from an earlier unpublished design called
"Enthusiasm Delineated." Besides these must be chronicled three more
essays in the "great style of history painting," viz. "Paul before
Felix," "Moses brought to Pharaoh's Daughter" and the Altarpiece for St
Mary Redcliffe at Bristol. The first two were engraved in 1751-1752, the
last in 1794. A subscription ticket to the earlier pictures, entitled
"Paul before Felix Burlesqued," had a popularity far greater than that
of the prints themselves.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account