Baroque Art (more on 'Hogarth and English caricature')

Hogarth and English Charicature Book

This is a picture book about popular art in England during the eighteenth century mainly. But what I originally set out to do was summarise the introduction which is about 11 pages long:

I have seen from reading this that I can confirm what I read in the other book ('English caricature, 1620 to the present') that the satirists of this time usually started out as copper engravers of particular paintings of other artists work, as a way to make money.
Rival print shops usd to hold exhibitions of 'The largest caricature collection in the world, 1 shilling entrance fee.'
Based as they were on the popular market and depending on a large turnover, these prints reflected what was uppermost in the publics mind, and their appeal was generally satirical. Their popularity is attested by thier huge volume.

Hogarths role as the father of English caricature is inseperable from his achievement as the first British painter of international rank, not to mention his all-absorbing interest in contemporary life and his forthright comment on it.

But it was the invention of print that gave this popular art its widest currency.

The Hogarthian approach to satire adopted circumstantial storytelling on one hand and fantastic symbolism on the other, which plays a great part in eighteenth century caricature in general. Other artists who gave a new impetus to the development of art by drawing on vital resources of the popular tradition were people like Hieronymous Bosch Bruegel.

In the bitter religious and political struggles of the reformation, popular art had also assumed the new form of political caricature. As such it flourished in the Holland during the 17th century (as it also says in 'English caricature, 1620 to the present'), and dutch caricatures also commanded the English market, until their supremecy was challenged about 1720 by the rapidly emerging English school.

What got Family guy to where it is today (Seth Macfarlen)

Interesting ;)

Rupert Murdoch

Doing a little research on Rupert Murdoch as I found out that he owns Fox Network, which is the same channel that all the major satirical American cartoons are broadcast from. Could it be that since such shows as the Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad and The Cleveland show are all shown on this network, then people like Seth Mcfarlen and Matt Groening have some sort of special relationship with Murdoch which keeps them writing storylines with or showing particular things which keeps them in such power... after all, the Simpsons is on its 22nd series and Seth Mcfarlen is fast becoming a cartoon Mogul, and taking no prisoners.

More On English Caricature and the 'Father Of English Caricature'

The book states that the Earliest English Satires were more of an antiquarian than visual interest, and reflect the poverty of English print history, although production of satire in the seventeenth century was sporadic, rising to peaks at times of crisis such as prelude to the civil war (and the Popish plot of 1679, which lead to the death of 15 men). To me this states the huge part that caricature and satire plays in keeping up with what is pushing everyone's emotional button within current times.




In 1720, the astonishing stock exchange disaster which took place in England attracted many satires from a handful of Dutch artists, but also young William Hogarth (who I'm quite interested in). What interests me so much about The Hogarthian world is how he illustrated his condemnation of moral vice and folly, but also for his delight in the spectacle of the human character in extremes of behaviour. Dubbed the 'Father Of English Caricature', He is the first English satirist to work on the same intellectual level as writers such as swift and defoe (referred to by some as one of the founders of the English novel) and inevitably his work dominates this whole period of history until his untimely death in 1764.
Im also a huge fan of political satire, which intruded in Hogarths work continually. The heart of his work lies in the series of paintings, popularized by his engravings The Harlots Progress, The Rakes Progress in 1735 (which I posted earlier on i the blog).