William Hogarth
(England 1697–1764)
- Title
- Time smoking a picture
- Year
- 1761
- Media category
- Materials used
- etching and mezzotint
- Dimensions
-
24.7 x 18.5cm platemark; 42.5 x 29.2cm sheet
- Signature & date
- Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased 1952
- Accession number
- 8658
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
This is Hogarth's most consciously learned image, using quotations from classical texts to support his challenge to the gentlemanly taste for old and darkened Italian paintings. From the 1730s onwards he railed consistently against the taste for dubious old master paintings authenticated by dealers and 'dark masters'. Time's scythe pierces the canvas, making the point that time is not a beautifier but a destroyer.
- Exhibition history (2)
-
Purchases and Acquisitions for 1952, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 26 Mar 1953–24 May 1953.
18th and 19th century prints and drawings from the University's collection, War Memorial Art Gallery, University of Sydney, 28 Mar 2001–11 May 2001.
