Brief Biography-William Hogarth was born into an impoverished family in Smithfield, London in 1697. His father was held in the debtor’s prison when William was only nine years old. Three years later his father was released and through an uncle he was apprenticed to a silver plate engraver named Ellis Gamble. Six years into his apprenticeship due to necessity, as his parents were dead, he set up his own engraving business in his mother’s house. He entered an academy in Saint Martin’s lane and after three years went on to the academy of James Thornhill the history painter.
Hogarth eventually became successful at his work and opened his own academy in Saint Martin’s lane for young artists. He did engravings for literary works and began to paint in oil. He married the daughter of James Thornhill in 1729 and began to achieve a reasonable living as a portraitist, mostly for the nobility of the city.
In 1731, he painted the series “A Harlot’s Progress” and shortly afterwards hit upon the idea of producing it as engravings. This was a tremendous success and he set up a business as a print seller which he advertised outside his shop with a gilded head of Sir Anthony van Dyck. He also painted religious commissions for churches but felt he was more suited to his work as a printmaker and artistic satirist. He succeeded James Thornhill as serjeant-painter to the king in 1757.
Before he produced “The Rake’s Progress” he was successful in having parliament pass a bill for the Engraver’s Copyright Act in 1735, as his works had been pirated by other printmakers. However, this was to be his last major profitable publication, his later works, of which he had some published by other engravers, were not so successful, his paintings also failed to achieve success at auctions. His book “The Analysis of Beauty” became a best seller and is highly regarded to this day. His last work was “The Bathos” in October of the same year he died in 1764.