Gin Lane

William Hogarth, artist

1697–1764

Gin Lane, 1751

Where object was made: England, United Kingdom

Material/technique: wove paper; engraving

Dimensions:
Plate Mark/Block Dimensions (Height x Width): 390 x 326 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 593 x 484 mm
Plate Mark/Block Dimensions (Height x Width): 15 3/8 x 12 13/16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 23 3/8 x 19 1/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 25 x 20 in

Credit line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Dolph Simons Jr.

Accession number: 1981.0125

Not on display

Add to portfolio

If you wish to reproduce this image, please submit an image request

Images

Label texts

Archive Label:
Hogarth as both a painter and engraver observed the activities of the working and middle classes in London, commenting on economic and social realities of life previously unexplored in English art. Royal Academy President Joshua Reynolds condemned Hogarth’s subject matter as low and vulgar. This, however, did not affect the continued popularity of his “modern moral subjects” such as Gin Lane and Beer Street that contrast the debilitating effects of the high consumption of gin among the working classes with the health, prosperity and happiness of the industrious, beer-drinking English laborer.