English Painting and Graphic Arts


	English Painting and Graphic Arts

Two developments are important in English art of the 18th century. This was the period when portrait painting reached its height in England. It was also the time when a new mood enters art -- satire, a mood we also see in the literature of both France and England in the 18th century.

Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792)
Three Ladies Adorning a Term of Hymen
1774
Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788)
Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan
ca. 1785

These portraits are about as close as English art gets to the Rococo style. Because only wealthy persons could afford to commission large portraits (and these are life-size), portraits generally featured aristocrats. Sir Joshua Reynolds often depicted his wealthy persons in symbolic or classical scenes (here contemporary women are dressed in an antique style) but they seem more serious than the flirtatious figures in French Rococo art. And Gainsborough integrated the portrait with the natural landscape (which he liked painting as much as people). In general, portraits by British painters don't seem as frivolous and superficial as those painted by French Rococo artists.

William Hogarth (1697-1764)
Gin Lane and Beer Street
1750

One English artist certainly wasn't frivolous. In fact, Hogarth's art can be seen as a reaction to the Rococo style and content. Hogarth is a satirist in art; thus, his works have a strong moral and didactic strain. In this sense he can be compared with Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, and Voltaire, important literary satirists.
Although Hogarth was a fine painter, he is most famous for his engravings (or prints). Because multiple inexpensive copies can be made of engravings, his art was accessible to a large middle-class public. Hogarth set out to teach this public.Hogarth often did a series of prints that told a story, with titles that included the an ironic use of the word "progress" -- as in "Harlot's Progress." Hogarth took on all kinds of social evils -- prostitution, drunkenness, veneral disease, clergy who were only interested in a comfortable living, lawyers, social climbing, marriages of convenience, and laziness. Meanwhile, he praised English common sense, moderation, and middle-class virtues.

All images marked ^MAS were photographed on location by Mary Ann Sullivan. All other images were scanned from other sources or downloaded from the World Wide Web; they are posted on this password-protected site for educational purposes, at Bluffton College only, under the "fair use" clause of U.S. copyright law.

Page maintained by Gerald W. Schlabach, gws@bluffton.edu. Last updated: 5 May 1998.

	Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) Three Ladies Adorning a Term of Hymen 1774 Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan ca. 1785
	These portraits are about as close as English art gets to the Rococo style. Because only wealthy persons could afford to commission large portraits (and these are life-size), portraits generally featured aristocrats. Sir Joshua Reynolds often depicted his wealthy persons in symbolic or classical scenes (here contemporary women are dressed in an antique style) but they seem more serious than the flirtatious figures in French Rococo art. And Gainsborough integrated the portrait with the natural landscape (which he liked painting as much as people). In general, portraits by British painters don't seem as frivolous and superficial as those painted by French Rococo artists.
	William Hogarth (1697-1764) Gin Lane and Beer Street 1750
	One English artist certainly wasn't frivolous. In fact, Hogarth's art can be seen as a reaction to the Rococo style and content. Hogarth is a satirist in art; thus, his works have a strong moral and didactic strain. In this sense he can be compared with Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, and Voltaire, important literary satirists. Although Hogarth was a fine painter, he is most famous for his engravings (or prints). Because multiple inexpensive copies can be made of engravings, his art was accessible to a large middle-class public. Hogarth set out to teach this public.Hogarth often did a series of prints that told a story, with titles that included the an ironic use of the word "progress" -- as in "Harlot's Progress." Hogarth took on all kinds of social evils -- prostitution, drunkenness, veneral disease, clergy who were only interested in a comfortable living, lawyers, social climbing, marriages of convenience, and laziness. Meanwhile, he praised English common sense, moderation, and middle-class virtues.