Born Nov. 10, 1697, in London; died there Oct. 25, 1764. British painter, graphic artist, and art theorist.

Hogarth studied with the silversmith E. Gamble and at J. Thornhill’s academy (from 1720) in London. He worked in London and visited France in 1743 and 1748. Hogarth first gained fame from his satirical paintings and copper engravings, in which, in the spirit of the European Enlightenment, he ruthlessly exposed the evils of British life. Examples of such works are the six pictures of A Harlot’s Progress (1730–31, not preserved; engraved in 1732), the eight pictures of A Rake’s Progress (1732–35, Sir John Soane’s museum, London; engraved 1735), the six pictures of Marriage à la Mode (1743–45, National Gallery, London; engraved 1745), and the engravings Gin Lane (1751) and Beer Street (1751).

Hogarth’s portraits are marked by a democratic quality, sharp lifelike characterizations, and a full-blooded realistic technique. Examples are Captain Thomas Coram (1740, Foundling Hospital, London), Self-portrait (1745, Tate Gallery, London), and The Shrimp Girl (c. 1760, National Gallery, London).

In the theoretical treatise Analysis of Beauty (1753), Hogarth called for the use of asymmetric forms (for example, serpentine lines) that would allow life to be reproduced in the diversity of its manifestations. Hogarth’s theories and art greatly influenced 18th-century European culture. The artist’s influence is reflected in the work of L. Sterne in Great Britain and G. E. Lessing and G. C. Lichtenberg in Germany.