Beer Street and Gin Lane are two prints issued in 1751 by English artist William Hogarth. Hogarth was an English painter and print maker, who started creating his first prints at the age of 13.
Hogarth believed that art should always have moral qualities in it but was also known for portraying his humour in his etchings as well.
In the 1700 alcoholism was common in the poorer citizens of London, and with gin being the most common poison, because it was cheap and strong, it was an easy way for people to forget there struggles and problems, i also found out It contained sulphuric acid and turpentine!.
As you can see this was captured in his work, i love all the detail in this, all he is saying.
This is a scene of complete chaos and horror. The woman on the steps, who is so drunk that she has let her child fall over the rail, the man below her is skeletal, dying or dead! There is a man hanging himself in the top right corner, its all horrendous. Very powerful and disturbing.
As you can see there is a distillery, a funeral planner and what i think is a pawners and in the middle is the effects of all that, the poor selling there belongings for pennies, fighting, drunk and someone being laid in a coffin. I think Hogarth is trying to show you the evil of it all these people making money at the poorer mans expense...
As much as this is disturbing, i couldn't look away...the more i looked, the more a saw, the more disturbing it became and the more i looked...
The technique is brilliant! obviously it is technically well done and everything looks very realistic but i love the use of tone. There seems to be a lot of different types of marks made, i see some cross hatching and some stippling as well as bits he has left untouched. I know that the darker parts, like the signage and the walls have been left in the acid a bit longer to make them darker but i dont know a lot about Etching or engraving but this is just a very powerful and visually stunning piece of work.
I then decided to start looking at Beer street.
Although it is much calmer, at first glance, there is still a lot of detail, and again he is saying a lot.
This print is connected to industry and construction as well as good health and order. This to me seems quite happy and merry. The people in this seem well fed and everyone seems very joyful. There clothes are clean and all seem to be workers, like black smiths, bakers and fish mongers unlike the etching 'gin lane'. Dose this show a difference in class? i am not sure.
Again i see a lot of different marks on this, some quite close together and some far apart, some almost like dots and stippling, and again some un touched placed like the highlights on the ground, sky and on the clothes of the people.
These two prints really show the difference between gin and beer, one for the poor and desperate who need an escape from there lives, full of pain and sadness. and beer a good drink for the working man, a refreshing break from a hard days work... not an escape or means to cope with life.
I love these prints, i think i could look at them all day and keep seeing more and more! William Hogarth is defiantly one to remember and refer back to at a later date!
Hogarth believed that art should always have moral qualities in it but was also known for portraying his humour in his etchings as well.
In the 1700 alcoholism was common in the poorer citizens of London, and with gin being the most common poison, because it was cheap and strong, it was an easy way for people to forget there struggles and problems, i also found out It contained sulphuric acid and turpentine!.
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| Gin Gin Lane, Etching and engraving on paper, 1751 |
This is a scene of complete chaos and horror. The woman on the steps, who is so drunk that she has let her child fall over the rail, the man below her is skeletal, dying or dead! There is a man hanging himself in the top right corner, its all horrendous. Very powerful and disturbing.
As you can see there is a distillery, a funeral planner and what i think is a pawners and in the middle is the effects of all that, the poor selling there belongings for pennies, fighting, drunk and someone being laid in a coffin. I think Hogarth is trying to show you the evil of it all these people making money at the poorer mans expense...
As much as this is disturbing, i couldn't look away...the more i looked, the more a saw, the more disturbing it became and the more i looked...
The technique is brilliant! obviously it is technically well done and everything looks very realistic but i love the use of tone. There seems to be a lot of different types of marks made, i see some cross hatching and some stippling as well as bits he has left untouched. I know that the darker parts, like the signage and the walls have been left in the acid a bit longer to make them darker but i dont know a lot about Etching or engraving but this is just a very powerful and visually stunning piece of work.
I then decided to start looking at Beer street.
Although it is much calmer, at first glance, there is still a lot of detail, and again he is saying a lot.
This print is connected to industry and construction as well as good health and order. This to me seems quite happy and merry. The people in this seem well fed and everyone seems very joyful. There clothes are clean and all seem to be workers, like black smiths, bakers and fish mongers unlike the etching 'gin lane'. Dose this show a difference in class? i am not sure.
Again i see a lot of different marks on this, some quite close together and some far apart, some almost like dots and stippling, and again some un touched placed like the highlights on the ground, sky and on the clothes of the people.
These two prints really show the difference between gin and beer, one for the poor and desperate who need an escape from there lives, full of pain and sadness. and beer a good drink for the working man, a refreshing break from a hard days work... not an escape or means to cope with life.
I love these prints, i think i could look at them all day and keep seeing more and more! William Hogarth is defiantly one to remember and refer back to at a later date!
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