Hogarth's London

When you think of Georgian London, it’s hard not to think of William Hogarth’s gaudy, satirical paintings and prints depicting the squalor and lavish existence of London society. No other artist has quite captured the extremes of our fair capital with such imaginative detail and socially conscious provocativeness. An outsider himself, Hogarth’s poor background didn’t stop him from becoming Serjeant Painter to the King, yet it did taint his credentials so acceptance by the art establishment forever eluded him. This show of fifty of his most famous prints that includes ‘A Harlot’s Progress’, ‘A Rake’s Progress’, ‘Gin Lane’ and ‘Beer Street’ illustrate the activities of instantly recognisable London types. From the dandy to the penniless that lived and worked in Smithfield, Covent Garden, St. Martin’s Lane and Leicester Fields - now Leicester Square, Hogarth immortalised a city that was full of prosperity and poverty with a prudent eye. These works are captivating for their uncompromising illustration of an immoral eighteenth-century where virtue is compromised by ambition.