Benjamin Smith after William Hogarth – William Hogarth
A sopy in reverse of Hogarth’s exceedingly rare self portrait, with his dog Trump. He has depicted himself half length, in an oval canvas resting on a pile of books, wearing a fur ‘montero’ cap and his painter’s overall. On the left sits his pugdog Trump and on the right is his palette and his Line of Beauty. Hogarth later destroyed this plate during a temper tantrum, replacing his image in the oval with that of Charles Churchill as a ragged drunken bear and transforming the plate into his most savage and embittered satire The Bruiser. See Paulson 181
William Hogarth
William Hogarth, (born November 10, 1697, London, England—died October 26, 1764, London). The first great English-born artist to attract admiration abroad. Best known for his MORAL and satirical engravings and paintings—e.g., A Rake’s Progress (eight scenes,1733).
His attempts to build a reputation as a history painter and portraitist, however, met with financial disappointment. His aesthetic theories had more influence in Romantic literature than in painting.
