Before 1736

print

pencil drawn

photo of handprinted image

aged paper

toned paper

light pencil work

ink paper printed

print

pencil sketch

charcoal drawing

england

watercolour illustration

watercolor

"Before" is an etching by renowned English artist William Hogarth, created in 1736. This print depicts a scene from the artist's famous series "Marriage à-la-Mode," which satirizes the societal ills of arranged marriages and aristocratic excess. In this scene, a young woman is caught by her husband in a compromising position, suggesting an affair. The artist's use of caricature and dramatic storytelling through visual detail captivated audiences of the time and continues to resonate with art lovers today. This print, now housed at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, is a powerful example of Hogarth's mastery of the engraving technique and his sharp social commentary.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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Hogarth brings his usual insightful humor to the role reversals pictured in these two images (P.68.349 and P.68.350). In Before the woman appears anxious after having invited her enthusiastic lover into her bedroom. She futilely pushes him away amid the barks of her dog. The man clings to her body wildly, his face excited and his bald head becoming exposed under his wig-a sight that in the eighteenth century carried sexual overtones. In After, by contrast, the man appears panicked and distant, and the woman now passionately reaches to embrace his fleeing figure. As was typical, Hogarth peppered his scene with details to develop his narrative further. In After a number of objects are symbolically broken-the dressing table, chamber pot, and bed curtains-and the rocket ignited by the putto in the painting in the background has been extinguished.