William Hogarth: Gone to the Dogs

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William Hogarth, "Gone to the Dogs"

Courtesy of the Art Gallery of Alberta.

William Hogarth was an English painter and engraver in the 1700’s. His most famous engravings are critical of English culture and his satire was directed at all social classes as well as religion and government. Many of his works are moralizing in nature, warning against the ills of British society at the time and show the exaggerated and disastrous results of immoral choices and actions. The works are elaborate, and the actions of main characters are often echoed in details hidden in background scenes, surroundings and secondary characters and animals. Dogs, in particular, are used by the artist to help tell his stories.

William Hogarth (born November 10, 1697, London, England—died October 26, 1764, London), the first great English-born artist to attract admiration abroad, best known for his moral and satirical engravings and paintings. Hogarth was born near the East End cattle market of Smithfield in London, he was the son of an unsuccessful schoolmaster and writer from Westmoreland. After apprenticeship to a goldsmith, he began to produce his own engraved designs in about 1710. He later took up oil painting, starting with small portrait groups called conversation pieces. He went on to create a series of paintings satirising contemporary customs, but based on earlier Italian prints, of which the first was 'The Harlot's Progress' (1731), and perhaps the most famous 'The Rake's Progress'. His engravings were so plagiarised that he lobbied for the Copyright Act of 1735 as protection for writers and artists.