Tuesday 6 October 2009

Crossing Swords with Hogarth

Windsor Castle by Paul Sandby, source: Wikimedia Commons

Before it closes on October 18th, I hope to catch the Picturing Britain exhibition at Nottingham Castle which gathers together the work of an extraordinary - and largely forgotten - 18th-century topographical artist called Paul Sandby. Marking Sandby's bicentenary year, the show encompasses the Nottingham-born artist's accomplished landscape painting (he was known as a staunch defender of English landscape) and, perhaps most interestingly, his satirical works.

Sandby was a critic of Hogarth, who became the target of a series of savage prints in the 1750s and early 1760s. These find Sandby ripping into The Analysis of Beauty, casting Britain's most popular artist as an inane fool in a harlequinade and a fitting subject for A New Dunciad. It's jaw-dropping stuff, even by today's standards.

Paul Sandby, Satire on Hogarth, shown as a devil fanning the fire at the mouth of hell.
Source: Monster Brains

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4 comments:

Keith said...

I like the painting of Windsor Castle, and Hogarth is one of my favourites.
Regards, Le Loup.

Mrs Woffington said...

Thanks Le Loup, I'm a big fan of Hogarth too - Tate Britain had a huge exhibition of his work in 2007 and it was so good, it knocked me for six.

curator said...

I am most sorry to have missed the Hogarth show at Tate Britain; hopefully I will go back to London someday (haven't been since 1995). As always hanks for the excellence of this blog!

Mrs Woffington said...

Thank you curator, glad you like it!