A Brief History of Painting by Roy Bolton

Author:Roy Bolton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Constable & Robinson
Published: 2004-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

François Boucher

b. Paris 1703, d. Paris 1770

Odalisque, c. 1745

Oil on canvas

54 × 65 cm (21 × 25½ in)

Louvre, Paris

THE PAINTING Tom Rakewell, the ‘hero’ of Hogarth’s series of eight moralizing paintings, inherits his miser father’s wealth and literally goes blowing the cash. By the time of this third scene, he is already on his way to ruin. He is being groped by a prostitute he has brought back to the notorious Rose-Tavern in London’s Drury Lane. On the way there they have had a prankish run-in with a night-watchman – his staff and lantern are at Tom’s feet. Tom’s shirt is undone and his sword is tellingly ‘unsheathed’. It is 3am (we know because a girl is stealing his watch). At the table one prostitute spits at another who pulls a dagger, while an angry pimp threatens another girl who tries seduction to win him over. Next to the undressing stripper a chamber pot is spilling onto a plate of food. Her minder at the door holds the pewter dish that she dances on, and next to him a band plays under the defaced paintings of Roman emperors. This is an orgy after all. The only portrait left intact is of Nero, watching over the room while a girl accidentally sets fire to a map of the world.

THE ARTIST Hogarth was the most internationally important British artist of his time. His middle-class morals, unconnected with the old power structures of the Church or aristocracy, made his art very influential across a changing Europe. His famous ‘low life’ pictures were a social revolution. Etched in their thousands, they proved that artists could be independent of rich patrons. This five-foot tall, pugnacious little cockney was part of the new London middle class, and to him everyone was ripe for ridicule. His mistrust of foreigners, including their Old Masters, led him to found an art school, which in turn partly led to the foundation of Britain’s Royal Academy. Despite his dislike of foreigners his painting technique comes from Europe. His Rococo style comes out of France, but Hogarth turned it into a bawdy laugh of his own making. His study of the seedier side of life affected him. He was a founding governor of the first orphanage, and painted some of his best work for its walls, for free. But he failed in his real ambition, to paint grand history pictures. His talents just didn’t suit this sort of scale. After public slanging matches with most of the art establishment, he died embittered.

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