William Hogarth, The Bench, 1758, etching and engraving; fifth state of five, 324 x 217 mm, New York
William Hogarth, The Bench, 1758, etching and engraving; fifth state of five, 324 x 217 mm, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the gift of Sarah Lazarus, 1891There is a group of four judges uninterested in the case that they’re supposed to be hearing. Two read papers related to other things, and two have fallen asleep. The importance of their job conveyed by the wigs and robes contrast with their attitudes.Above the judges is an unfinished addition to the print, made just before Hogarth’s death. It shows eight heads. To the right, the four faces are painted as character studies; to the left, the faces are drawn as caricatures. Two of the four faces on the left repeat, in caricature form, the faces to the far right. Hogarth did this for a particular reason. At several points during his career, he expressed his disgust with critics who consider that all this art was a caricature.He wanted to be more; a painter of high-minded ideas. He argued that he painted caricatures, but also characters. -- source link
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