The painter’s progress

WILLIAM HOGARTH’S images of ‘high’, middle and ‘low’ life continue to be the prism through which 18th-century Britain is viewed, with the terms Hogarthian and the Age of Hogarth still in common usage. Beyond his own lifetime, Hogarth’s canny ability to tap into the universal, as well as the particular, regarding the human condition has meant that these visions—whether , Bedlam scenes from ‘A Rake’s Progress’, the nightmare streets of or the evergreen political shenanigans depicted in served political cartoonists and social satirists well throughout the intervening centuries. Even now, they are the models for political cartoonists Martin Rowson and Cold War Steve, as well as an inspiration for artists such as Paula Rego, Yinka Shonibare and Lubaina