Hogarth

The author traces the artist’s career and shifting reputation, opening with an auction anecdote to illustrate changing tastes, then examines both pictorial works and engraved moral satires. Close readings of portraits and conversation pieces emphasize technique, colour, and anecdotal detail, and discuss notable compositions such as The Shrimp Girl, Marriage à la Mode, The Stay Maker, and the portrait of Sarah Malcolm. Short essays consider relations with contemporaries, collectors, and later admirers, and map important holdings and exhibitions, concluding with visits to the Soane Museum, the Foundling Hospital, the Chiswick villa, and reflections on the artist’s legacy.