Person    | Male  Born 10/11/1697  Died 26/10/1764

William Hogarth

Categories: Art, Seriously Famous

Satirical artist and illustrator. Trained as an engraver, he depicted the unseemly behaviour of contemporaries in works like 'The Beggar's Opera' (1728) and 'A Rake's Progress' (1732). Much of his work was pirated and he was instrumental in the passing of the Copyright Act of 1735 which was known at the time as 'Hogarth's Act'. A governor of the Foundling Hospital. Born in Bartholomew Close, Smithfield, he lived in 'Leicester Fields' from 1726 until his death, and he died at home, the east side of Leicester Square. He was buried in Chiswick Parish at St. Nicholas, London, W4.

There are similarities between Hogarth and Dickens: the father being in a debtors' prison; the later successful representation of the individual lives of the poor.

A information board near the Chiswick statue gives: 
In 1749 William Hogarth bought a small house at the edge of the riverside village of Chiswick. He could afford his “little country box” because of the success of his print sales. Over the next 15 years he added new rooms on the south side and a new second floor. Here he entertained family and friends as well as abandoned children from London’s Foundling Hospital, where he was a governor.
After his death William’s family continue to use the Chiswick house. Hogarth was buried at St Nicholas Church, along with his sister, his wife and her mother. His great friend, the actor David Garrick, wrote the epitaph carved on the magnificent tomb.
Since 1904 Hogarth’s House has been a small museum in his memory and the nearby roundabout is named after him. 
London was Hogarth's home for his whole life and its streets and people appear in his pictures. His family was not rich, his father was even imprisoned for debt and William left his apprenticeship with a silver engraver before he finished his training. However, he became a very successful painter and print-maker.
Hogarth was a sharp businessman, selling his prints in the 1730s and '40s by subscription to middle class collectors who paid for them in advance. However, his series of prints telling moral stories were so popular that pirate versions were made by other print-sellers. His campaign for the first copyright law to protect artists' work succeeded in 1735.
After he became financially secure he worked from his town house in Leicester Fields (where the Leicester Square Odeon now stands). His widow, Jane, continued producing and selling his prints from there after his death in 1764.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
William Hogarth

Commemorated ati

Hogarth - Harrow on the Hill

Looking to connect Hogarth with Harrow we found: c.1800 Crown Street in Harro...

Read More

Hogarth plaque - gone

William Hogarth, artist, 1697 - 1764, sergeant painter to King George II live...

Read More

Hogarth statue

Unveiled by Ian Hislop and David Hockney. Funded by donations from individual...

Read More

Show all 12

Other Subjects

Karl Ghattas

Karl Ghattas

Born Khaled Ghattas in Egypt. He trained in several hospitals in London and Chester graduating in medicine London University 1982, but then took an MSc in philosophy at the London School of Economi...

Person, Art, Medicine, Philosophy, Poetry, Egypt, Spain

1 memorial
Stanley Hallam Rothwell

Stanley Hallam Rothwell

Body builder and artists' model who posed for a number of statues on display in London. Rothwell was brought to our attention by Broderick D.V. Chow in this Londonist article. This, together with ...

Person, Art, Artists' Model, Sport / Games

1 memorial
George Baxter

George Baxter

Artist and craftsman. Born Lewes. 1825 moved to London and married his cousin Mary Harrild. He invented a commercially viable colour printing process, producing prints of religious and topical subj...

Person, Art, Commerce, Craft / Design, Tragedy

3 memorials
Sir Luke Fildes

Sir Luke Fildes

Illustrator and portrait painter. Born Samuel Luke Fildes at 22 Standish Street, Liverpool. He became known as a woodcut designer for magazines such as 'The Graphic', the first issue of which inclu...

Person, Art

1 memorial
Paul Butler

Paul Butler

Mural artist active in 1983.

Person, Art

1 memorial

Previously viewed

St Lawrence Jewry

St Lawrence Jewry

St Lawrence Jewry is so called because the original twelfth century church stood on the eastern side of the City, then occupied by the Jewish community. That church, built in 1136, was destroyed in...

Building, Religion

3 memorials
Worshipful Company of Masons

Worshipful Company of Masons

The masons did very well out of the post-fire rebuilding of London. From their website: "The focus of our Livery Company is to preserve and encourage the use of natural stone in the built environme...

Group, Liveries & Guilds

2 memorials
Lord Northampton

Lord Northampton

EC1, Northampton Square

This tablet was erected in loving memory of William Compton, fifth Marquess of Northampton, KG, by his London tenants and friends.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Marie Stopes - SE19

Marie Stopes - SE19

SE19, Cintra Park, 28

English Heritage Marie Stopes, 1880 - 1958, promoter of sex education and birth control, lived here, 1880 - 1892.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Mrs Hester Thrale (Piozzi)

Mrs Hester Thrale (Piozzi)

Writer and good friend to Samuel Johnson. Born near Bwlheli, Caernarvonshire, as Hester Salusbury. In 1763 was married for money to Henry Thrale, a wealthy London brewer. An unhappy marriage, with ...

Person, Gender Issues, Literature, Wales

2 memorials