Beer Street, William Hogarth

Artwork Overview

Beer Street, William Hogarth
Beer Street, William Hogarth
William Hogarth
Beer Street
1751
William Hogarth, artist
1697–1764
Beer Street, 1751
Where object was made: England, United Kingdom
Material/technique: engraving; wove paper
Dimensions:
Plate Mark/Block Dimensions (Height x Width): 390 x 328 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 593 x 484 mm
Plate Mark/Block Dimensions (Height x Width): 15 3/8 x 12 15/16 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: 1981.0126
On display: Brosseau Learning Center
Add to portfolio

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

Images

Label texts

Brosseau Center for Learning: In Conversation with the 2025–26 KU Common Book

No one knows the exact origins of beer; all we know is that it has been created accidentally or purposefully since agriculture was invented thousands of years ago. Gin, a distilled alcoholic drink with juniper berries and other botanical ingredients, originated as a medicinal liquor created by monks in the thirteenth century. In eighteenth-century London, however, it instilled chaos and demise due to a lack of quality control. Almost outpacing the sales of the number one beverage—beer—the widespread consumption of gin in the United Kingdom was known as the Gin Craze.

Although the English government first encouraged local distilling to prop up grain prices, the lack of regulations led to cheap, readily available gin mixed with turpentine. William Hogarth created this pair of moralizing prints in support of the Gin Act of 1751 after witnessing the ills and dangers of consuming foreign liquors. Portraying haunting images of a baby falling over the stairs as its mother sits in a daze, a store selling coffins, and a decrepit building falling to shambles, Gin Lane warns us of the harrowing effects of unregulated, distilled liquor. Don’t poison yourself or succumb to the evils of Gin Lane, instead walk over to Beer Street, where people’s bellies are full, love is in the air, and the local community is thriving.

Had a hard day at work? Go and support your local brewery. This crisp, cool, effervescent concoction is the perfect drink to enliven your spirits! Providing clean hydration, beer prevented cholera and was healthier than drinking water. Full of antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber, the age-old beverage can increase bone strength and can allow for better cognitive function.

Ellen Joo gives beer five stars and gin two stars.

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.

Exhibitions

Virtue, Labor, and Profit in the Georgian Era: British Art from the Collection
1995
Spencer Museum of Art Tenth Anniversary Exhibition (Spencer Museum Celebrates Ten Years of Art)
1988
Teaching Gallery: Pharmacy
2008
Brosseau Center for Learning: Art and Fermentation
2019
Brosseau Center for Learning: In Conversation with the 2025–26 KU Common Book
Scott Barber, curator
Wyatt Haywood, curator
Suzanne Huffman, curator
Ellen Joo, curator
Luke Jordan, curator
Arial Kim, curator
Doug Bergstrom, curator
Susan Earle, curator
Sofía Galarza Liu, curator
Kevin Liu, curator
Kate Meyer, curator
Cara Nordengren, curator
Hana Rose North, curator
Liz Pfeiffer, curator
Sydney Pursel, curator
Rachel Straughn-Navarro, curator
Eli Troen, curator
Maggie Vaughn, curator

Resources

Audio

Audio Tour – Bulldog Podcast
Audio Tour – Bulldog Podcast