William Hogarth (1697 - 1764), statue by Joseph Durham. Hogarth, editorial cartoonist, satirical artist, illustrator, printmaker, and painter, a pioneer in western sequential art the precursor to the comic strip. For many years he lived in the area where this statue is displayed, then known as Leicester Fields. The statue was (as were three other corner statues of artists that are associated with the area) removed in a so called 'maker over' by a business interest, in 2010-12 when Boris Johnson was Mayor of London. Leicester Square, London, England, photographed January 2004
Words on brass plaque on the stature's plinth: WILLIAM HOGARTH 10 November 1697 - 26 October 1764, Satirical Artist and Illustrator, Trained as an engraver, he depicted the unseemly behaviour of contemporaries in works like the “Beggar’s Opera” (1728) and the “A Rake’s Progress” (1732). Much of his work was pirated and he was instrumental in the passing of the Copyright Act of 1735 which was known at the time as “Hogarth’s Act. He lived in ‘Leicester Fields’ from 1726 until his death. He was buried in Chiswick Parish at St. Nicholas, London, W4 in 1764. The bust is by Joseph Durham (1875)
Location: Leicester Square, London, UK
Photographer: photo: richard keith wolff
