Hogarth

Life in Progress

New Paperback Illustrated

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Born and raised in humble circumstances in Smithfield, Hogarth began his working life as an apprentice to a City engraver, producing crests and book plate designs. This comprehensive biography recreates the atmosphere of Georgian London as it describes how the artist rose to prominence – capturing the mood of the times with his caricatures and moral scenes, receiving acclaim for his paintings, and achieving popularity through the mass production of prints.

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THE SUNDAY TIMES ART BOOK OF THE YEAR

A Sunday Times Best Paperback of 2022

Christie's Best Art Books of the Year

'Deft and richly detailed ... rescues the artist from John Bull caricature' - Michael Prodger, Sunday Times

'Marvellous ... a vivid and compelling reconstruction of the settings of Hogarth's life and artistic achievements, and of the nature of the man' - Professor Linda Colley, author of The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen

'Full of richness, originality and considered humour, unafraid to shock with thrilling new insight ... terrific' - Dr Gus Casely-Hayford, Director of V&A Stratford & Sky Arts

'The full technicolour panorama of Georgian life laid out in a huge and passionate book' - Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces and author of Courtiers: The Secret History of the Georgian Court

On a late spring night in 1732, a boisterous group of friends set out from their local pub. They are beginning a journey, a 'peregrination' that will take them through the gritty streets of Georgian London and along the River Thames as far as the Isle of Sheppey. And among them is an up-and-coming engraver and painter, just beginning to make a name for himself: William Hogarth.

Hogarth's vision, to a vast degree, still defines the eighteenth century. In this, the first biography for over twenty years, Jacqueline Riding brings him to vivid life, immersing us in the world he inhabited and from which he drew inspiration. At the same time, she introduces us to an artist who was far bolder and more various than we give him credit for: an ambitious self-made man, a devoted husband, a sensitive portraitist, an unmatched storyteller, philanthropist, technical innovator and author of a seminal work of art theory.

Following in his own footsteps from humble beginnings to professional triumph (and occasional disaster), Hogarth illuminates the work and life of a great artist who embraced the highest principles even while charting humanity's lowest vices.

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