William Hogarth – 1697-1764 by Linda Smith
Hogarth is nowadays mostly remembered as a talented satirist, but there is much more to him than that. He was extremely ambitious in other artistic fields, including portraiture, history painting, and art theory. He was also a tireless self-promoter and entrepreneur, with a real and practical concern for the status of his profession.
This talk tracks his career from humble copper-plate engraver to successful painter, showing a wide variety of images which demonstrate his exceptional originality and inventiveness. Above all, however, it is his unparalleled eye for absurdity and human weakness which not only tells us so much about his times , but gives us thought about our own.
Linda Smith
Linda holds two first class degrees in Art History. She has a broad knowledge of art historical subjects, but specialises in British Art and twentieth century art. Linda is an experienced lecturer and guide, especially at Tate Britain and Tate Modern. She has lectured to a wide variety of audiences in different venues, including school and university students, and independent arts societies in the UK and overseas.