William Hogarth – his life and peregrinations in Kent

David Parker, the Canterbury Auction Galleries and member of the Worshipful Company of arts scholars. The talk encompasses the life of William Hogarth, focusing on what he and his friends called their ‘peregrination in Kent. The speaker follows his route and makes direct comparisons with modern descriptions of the journey, drawing on Hogarth’s diary and sketches compiled on route. It is hoped the audience will enjoy a snapshot into the times and its peculiarities.

‘William Hogarth (1697-1764) is an artist whose popularity has never waned since his own day. His reputation has been based almost entirely on his prints, although he is now recognised as one of the great painters of the British School. Different identities imposed upon the artist over the centuries include: witty satirist, stern moralist, libertine, aggressive self-promotor, detached observer and man of the people.’ David Bindman, Hogarth and his Times, 1998.