William Hogarth (1697-1764), Painter and engraver

Sitter associated with 19 portraits
Artist associated with 125 portraits
Hogarth was originally apprenticed to a silversmith. Around 1720, he began engraving and book illustration and then painting in 1727. At first he made small heads and groups, but soon produced life-size portraits and 'comic histories' such as The Rake's Progress and Marriage à-la-mode. An abrasive social commentator, he was appointed Sergeant Painter to George II in 1757. At a time when foreign artists flocked to London, Hogarth was increasingly concerned with the status of native artists and advocated for the Englishness of English art. He wrote The Analysis of Beauty in 1753, a treatise on art and beauty. His engravings were more highly esteemed at the time than his paintings.