Hogarth's hidden parts

More about the book

If you view William Hogarth as a moralist who supported foundlings and provided ethical guidance through his pictorial satires, it's time to reconsider. This thoroughly researched and provocative study uncovers a different side of Hogarth: an immoral English artist who reveled in debauchery and mercilessly critiqued his contemporaries. While known as a pictorial satirist and successful print-dealer, Hogarth indulged in obscene pleasures, frequented prostitutes, and possibly had paedophilic tendencies, ultimately succumbing to the effects of syphilis. The popular painter and engraver emerges here as a dark humorist, engaging in sexual double entendres and creating blasphemous motifs that satirically attacked “high” religious art, while debunking the 18th-century fascination with Old Master works. This book is poised to transform how we perceive Hogarth and his contributions to art.