Test of stamina

William Hogarth (1697–1764) was a rambunctious figure, controversial and quarrelsome by nature, but the first British artist to achieve worldwide recognition. He did this not through his paintings but through his prints, which were easier and cheaper to obtain, distinctly portable and offered a clear indication of his ideas. For Hogarth was a man of ideas and strongly held opinions, who not only designed and painted several series of unforgettable images, such as ‘A Harlot’s Progress’ and ‘A Rake’s Progress’, but also devised the stories which they so superbly illustrated. No scriptwriter or collaborator for him. These ‘Modern Moral Subjects’, as their author termed them, are what Hogarth is best-known for, though he could also be an innovative and powerful painter as this exhibition makes clear. He particularly excelled in portraiture, whether we consider the informal studies of ordinary working people, or the more formal commissioned portraits of the well-to-do.