Overview

'Deft and richly detailed ... rescues the artist from John Bull caricature' - Michael Prodger, Sunday Times 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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9781788163484

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Reviews

Marvellous and timely ... a vivid and compelling reconstruction of the settings of Hogarth's life and artistic achievements, and of the nature of the man -- Linda Colley, author * The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen: Warfare, Constitutions, and the Making of the Modern World * A special book that drops you heart first into Hogarth's world - like the great man's canvasses, it is full of richness, originality and considered humour, unafraid to shock with thrilling new insight -- Dr Gus Casely-Hayford, Director of V&A East and Professor of Practice, SOAS [An] excellent new biography ... Riding is particularly good on how the boy who was born into modest circumstances in 1697 spent much of the first half of his life wanting to be a 'proper' artist dealing with grand, historical subjects. -- Kathryn Hughes * Daily Mail * Deft and richly detailed ... rescues the artist from John Bull caricature -- Michael Prodger * Sunday Times * An entertaining ... richly worked and varied progress ... amid the displays of wounded vanity and cantankerous self-assertion, there remains something hugely impressive, and rather attractive, in the Hogarth who emerges from these pages -- Matthew Sturgis * The Oldie * [Hogarth] was far more than a mere depicter of his age and an artist of skill and talent. He was also a complex and active human being who was living within the society he drew. As such, he is worthy of a thorough and considered biography that captures the man of the time as well as the artist. That is exactly what Jacqueline Riding has brilliantly provided ... [Hogarth] is of the highest value in showing there was so much more to Hogarth than 'Gin Lane', but in also explaining exactly why he was able to create such a lasting image of his times. -- George Goodwin * London Historians *

In this marvellous and timely new biography, Jacqueline Riding makes sensitive and imaginative use of a wide range of often difficult and neglected sources, offering in the process a vivid and compelling reconstruction of the settings of Hogarth's life and artistic achievements, and of the nature of the man -- Linda Colley, author * The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen: Warfare, Constitutions, and the Making of the Modern World * If you are not familiar with the particular genius of Hogarth, this is the book through which to discover it. And if you are a fellow Hogarth fanatic then you are in for an exquisite treat. This is a special book that drops you heart first into Hogarth's world - like the great man's canvasses, it is full of richness, originality and considered humour, unafraid to shock with thrilling new insight -- Dr Gus Casely-Hayford, Director of V&A East and Professor of Practice, SOAS [An] excellent new biography ... Riding is particularly good on how the boy who was born into modest circumstances in 1697 spent much of the first half of his life wanting to be a 'proper' artist dealing with grand, historical subjects. -- Kathryn Hughes * Daily Mail * Deft and richly detailed ... rescues the artist from John Bull caricature -- Michael Prodger * Sunday Times * An entertaining ... richly worked and varied progress ... amid the displays of wounded vanity and cantankerous self-assertion, there remains something hugely impressive, and rather attractive, in the Hogarth who emerges from these pages -- Matthew Sturgis * The Oldie * [Hogarth] was far more than a mere depicter of his age and an artist of skill and talent. He was also a complex and active human being who was living within the society he drew. As such, he is worthy of a thorough and considered biography that captures the man of the time as well as the artist. That is exactly what Jacqueline Riding has brilliantly provided ... [Hogarth] is of the highest value in showing there was so much more to Hogarth than 'Gin Lane', but in also explaining exactly why he was able to create such a lasting image of his times. -- George Goodwin * London Historians *

Deft and richly detailed ... rescues the artist from John Bull caricature -- Michael Prodger * Sunday Times * [An] excellent new biography ... Riding is particularly good on how the boy who was born into modest circumstances in 1697 spent much of the first half of his life wanting to be a 'proper' artist dealing with grand, historical subjects. -- Kathryn Hughes * Daily Mail * An entertaining ... richly worked and varied progress ... amid the displays of wounded vanity and cantankerous self-assertion, there remains something hugely impressive, and rather attractive, in the Hogarth who emerges from these pages -- Matthew Sturgis * The Oldie * Marvellous and timely ... a vivid and compelling reconstruction of the settings of Hogarth's life and artistic achievements, and of the nature of the man -- Linda Colley, author * The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen: Warfare, Constitutions, and the Making of the Modern World * A special book that drops you heart first into Hogarth's world - like the great man's canvasses, it is full of richness, originality and considered humour, unafraid to shock with thrilling new insight -- Dr Gus Casely-Hayford, Director of V&A East and Professor of Practice, SOAS [Hogarth] was far more than a mere depicter of his age and an artist of skill and talent. He was also a complex and active human being who was living within the society he drew. As such, he is worthy of a thorough and considered biography that captures the man of the time as well as the artist. That is exactly what Jacqueline Riding has brilliantly provided ... [Hogarth] is of the highest value in showing there was so much more to Hogarth than 'Gin Lane', but in also explaining exactly why he was able to create such a lasting image of his times. -- George Goodwin * London Historians *

"'Deft and richly detailed ... rescues the artist from John Bull caricature' - Michael Prodger '[An] excellent new biography ... Riding is particularly good on how the boy who was born into modest circumstances in 1697 spent much of the first half of his life wanting to be a 'proper' artist dealing with grand, historical subjects.' - Kathryn Hughes 'An entertaining ... richly worked and varied ""progress"" ... amid the displays of wounded vanity and cantankerous self-assertion, there remains something hugely impressive, and rather attractive, in the Hogarth who emerges from these pages' - Matthew Sturgis 'Marvellous and timely ... a vivid and compelling reconstruction of the settings of Hogarth's life and artistic achievements, and of the nature of the man' - Linda Colley, author 'A special book that drops you heart first into Hogarth's world - like the great man's canvasses, it is full of richness, originality and considered humour, unafraid to shock with thrilling new insight' - Dr Gus Casely-Hayford, Director of V&A East and Professor of Practice, SOAS"

Author Information

Dr Jacqueline Riding specialises in British history and art of the long eighteenth century. Formerly curator of the Palace of Westminster and Director of the Handel House Museum, she is the award-winning author of Peterloo: The Story of the Manchester Massacre and Jacobites: A New History of the '45 Rebellion, as well as a consultant for museums, galleries, historic buildings and feature films. She was the historical adviser on Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner (2014), Peterloo (2018) and Wash Westmoreland's Colette (2018). She lives in South London.

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