Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Hogarth: Cruelty and Humor

May 24 through September 22, 2019

The satirical scenes of the celebrated English artist William Hogarth (1697–1764) are iconic representations of eighteenth-century urban life at a time of great socio-economic disparity. An academic outsider and an activist, Hogarth was driven to innovate, creating new genres and modes of expression in his painting, printmaking, and drawing in his effort to elevate the status of British art. This exhibition will investigate the ways the artist used humor, satire, and political commentary to engage a broad audience and agitate for legislation and political goals.

The exhibition features the Morgan’s exceptional cache of six sheets preparatory for two of Hogarth’s most revered print series, both issued in February 1751: Beer Street and Gin Lane and The Four Stages of Cruelty. The story of Hogarth’s images reveal an artist who addressed the ills and injustices of life in a modern metropolis, exploring the connections between violence, crime, alcohol abuse, and cruelty to animals in ways that would amuse, occasionally shock, and edify his audience.

Online Exhibition
Listen to the audio guide narrated by Colin B. Bailey, Director of the Morgan Library & Museum, Jennifer Tonkovich, Eugene and Clare Thaw Curator, and Laurel Peterson, Moore Curatorial Fellow.

Hogarth: Cruelty and Humor is made possible with generous support from Joshua W. Sommer and Alyce Williams Toonk, with assistance from the Alex Gordon Fund for Exhibitions and Raphael and Jane Bernstein.

William Hogarth (1697–1764), Fourth Stage of Cruelty (Reward of Cruelty), 1750-51, red chalk; incised with stylus and squared for transfer in graphite; verso rubbed with red chalk for transfer. Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909. The Morgan Library & Museum, III, 32e.

Selected Images

William Hogarth (1697–1764), Self-Portrait, ca. 1735, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B1981.25.360.

William Hogarth (1697–1764), Beer Street, 1750–51, red chalk with graphite and pen and brown ink; incised with stylus; verso rubbed with red chalk for transfer. Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913) in 1909, The Morgan Library & Museum, III, 37.

William Hogarth (1697–1764), Gin Street, 1750–51, red chalk, over traces of black chalk (in left foreground), with graphite, incised with stylus; verso rubbed with red chalk for transfer. Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913) in 1909, The Morgan Library & Museum, III, 36.

William Hogarth (1697–1764), Gin Lane, 1751, copper plate (etched and engraved). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1921, 21.55.3.

William Hogarth (1697–1764), First Stage of Cruelty, 1750, graphite and red chalk, incised with stylus; verso rubbed with red chalk for transfer. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B1975.4.1543

William Hogarth (1697–1764), First Stage of Cruelty, 1750–51, red chalk; incised with stylus; verso rubbed with red chalk for transfer. Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913) in 1909. The Morgan Library & Museum, III, 32b.

William Hogarth (1697–1764), Second Stage of Cruelty, 1750–51, red chalk, with graphite; incised with stylus; verso rubbed with red chalk for transfer. Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913) in 1909. The Morgan Library & Museum, III, 32c.

William Hogarth (1697–1764), Third Stage of Cruelty (Cruelty in Perfection), 1750–51, red chalk, with traces of graphite; incised with stylus and squared for transfer in graphite; verso rubbed with red chalk for transfer. Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913) in 1909. The Morgan Library & Museum, III, 32d.

William Hogarth (1697–1764), Fourth Stage of Cruelty (Reward of Cruelty), 1750–51, red chalk; incised with stylus and squared for transfer in graphite; verso rubbed with red chalk for transfer. Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913) in 1909. The Morgan Library & Museum, III, 32e.