Samuel Scott, who died in 1772, is the first who attained note in sea .painting—a department in which English painters have since achieved such celebrity.
Founder of the English are those who assign to William Hogarth, the celebrated son-in-law of Sir James Thornhill, the honor of founding the great school of English painting. We can easily see a cer tail' justice in this view because of the extraordinary originality of Hogarth, who from the outset selected subjects entirely new and treated them in a style altogether his own; but we think it more correct, histori cally, to consider that honor due to Sir James Thornhill, who, with Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723), undoubtedly had some influence in educating 01111g in the pictorial arts.
Hogarth was born in London, December TO, 1697. He was first apprenticed to a silversmith; and the engraving of shields and crests was undoubtedly excellent practice for an artist who was impatient of academic instruction. It was well, perhaps, that lie was of such a sturdy, independent character, as it led him to study directly from nature and to express his ideas in an original style instead of following the productions of conventional schools and artists. Hogarth possessed two qualities until his time rarely combined, but since then more frequently united, partly on account of his own success in that direction. He was at once a satirist and a painter—a keen observer of human nature endowed with the faculty of representing his observations in a manner artistic and dramatic. It is difficult to say in which department he most excelled.
Since Juvenal lashed the vices of Rome no one has used such a scourge as Hogarth, while not even the Dutch painters surpassed him in felicitous delineations. The coarseness of the subjects which he often selected, and the terrific and tragic power of some of his scenes, might incline one to conclude that the refined portrayal of beauty was foreign to his genius; but this would be a mistake: he is no less successful in painting the refined gentleman than the condemned rogue on the way to the gallows; his high born ladies are as true on his canvases as the dizened strumpets in the abodes of squalor. The genius of Hogarth was remarkable for its ver satility as well as its ability; satire, genre, portraiture, were all treated by him with equal success. Many will remember the portrait of the artist himself, with his dog genially looking out from the canvas by the side of his master.
In 1726, Hogarth issued his illustrations to "Hudibras;" they marked an era in art, for they first attracted the public to the fact that a new genius had come into the art-world, and he an Englishman. The young painter
took another step forward whenjour years later, he married Jane, the daughter of Sir James Thornhill, then history-painter to the king. The father, already inflated with aristocratic notions, opposed the match. IIap pily, the merits of Hogarth were such that he was able to win position and affluence, and a reconciliation was eventually effected with the haughty father-in-law.
For a time Hogarth devoted himself to portraiture, as he found that, while enjoying his humorous compositions, connoisseurs begrudged him the title of " artist." This prejudice against artists who use color as a medium for the expression of humor and satire has been slow in passing away, the public, especially in England and America, having an instinctive yet illogical notion that color should be employed only for serious compo sitions. With a corresponding spirit has the public attacked satirical poets. But it is hard to draw the line, and it would be preferable to admit as artists all who employ artistic methods and exhibit genuine art-qualities in developing their conceptions.
Hogarth' s Satirical Hogarth could not long restrain the natural inclinations of his genius, and, dropping portrait-painting, he began that series of satirical works which have immortalized his name. For these he employed engraving as well as color. The first, and the one which has attracted the widest attention, was the series, in six plates, entitled The Harlot's Progress; it was published in 1733. It was followed by a series, in eight plates, called The Rake's Progress ; each plate was complete in itself, while each led naturally to the next. There was no exaggeration in these representations from nature; from quiet humor they led stage by stage to the final and inevitable climax. No comment is required in examining these wonderful delineations. Criticism was dumb; never were the follies of mankind portrayed with such terrible vividness. The success of the two series was immediate. The plates were purchased with avidity, and The Harlot's Progress was dramatized for the stage under the title of " The Jew Decoyed; or, The Harlot's Progress." Another sure sign of the success of the series was the attempt of print sellers to pirate them. This obliged Hogarth to induce Parliament to pass, in 1735, a bill giving a legal copyright to property in engraving—a law which has resulted in bringing many a large fortune to the print-pub lishers of Great Britain.