The Analysis of Beauty (Paper) (Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art) - Softcover

William Hogarth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300073461 ISBN 13: 9780300073461

Publisher: Yale University Press, 1997

Synopsis

162 pages with 26 illustrations

About this title

From the Back Cover:

English artist William Hogarth (1697-1764) is most famous for his satirical caricatures and moral paintings, the forerunners of cartoons. In this instructive volume, the august painter and engraver discusses and illustrates the use of serpentine lines in the expression of grace and beauty. Hogarth defines six qualities--fitness, variety, regularity, simplicity, intricacy, and quantity--and dramatizes their effective combination in images that employ S-shaped lines.
Originally published in 1753 with the subtitle, -Written with a View of Fixing the Fluctuating Ideas of Taste, - Hogarth's book addresses the general public, not just artists and connoisseurs. More than 30 striking black-and-white plates trace visual and formal applications of the serpentine line of beauty, portraying subjects as diverse as everyday objects, examples from nature, and classical sculpture and other works by the great masters. A revolutionary approach to art theory by an experienced painter, this historic book offers fascinating insights into ideals of beauty and aesthetics.
Dover (2015) republication of the edition published by Reilly & Lee Co., Chicago, 1908.
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Synopsis:

Born 300 years ago in Smithfield, London, William Hogarth established himself as a central figure in 18th-century English culture through his paintings, engravings, and outspoken art criticism. In this edition of Hogarth's "Analysis of Beauty" - a work combining theory with practical advice on painting - Ronald Paulson includes the complete text of the original work; an introduction that places the "Analysis" in the tradition of aesthetic treatises and Hogarth's own "moral" works; extensive annotation of the text and accompanying illustrations; and manuscript passages that Hogarth omitted from the final printed version. In the development of English aesthetics, the "Analysis of Beauty" takes a position of significance. Hogarth's stature in his own time suggests the importance of his attempt to systematise and theorize his own artistic practice. What he proposes is an aesthetics of the middle range, subordinating both the beautiful and the sublime to the everyday world of human choice and contingency - essentially the world of Hogarth's own "modern moral subjects".

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0300073461
• ISBN 13: 9780300073461
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 244
• Editor: Ronald Paulson