William Hogarth

The Analysis of Beauty
The infinite complexities of beauty in six principles

The Analysis of Beauty, William Hogarth

William Hogarth was a satirist, a writer and engraver who lampooned the politics and religion of his day through editorial cartoons and grotesque caricatures. In 1753 Hogarth published one of the most thoughtful and extensive aesthetic analyses of formal beauty ever written. In 17 chapters, Hogarth lays out six principles that independently affect the human perception of beauty, and continues to break down compositional techniques, and draftsmanship lessons for the human form, the human face, and depicting action. It’s a complete and profoundly useful guidebook from the theoretical to the practical aspects of visual art.

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Chapters
IntroductionChapter 1: FitnessChapter 2: VarietyChapter 3: UniformityChapter 4: SimplicityChapter 5: IntricacyChapter 6: QuantityChapter 7: LinesChapter 8: CompositionChapter 9: The Waving LineChapter 10: Compositions with the Waving LineChapter 11: ProportionChapter 12: Light and ShadowChapter 13: Light, Shadow and ColorChapter 14: Coloring SkinChapter 15: The FaceChapter 16: AttitudeChapter 17: Action
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William Hogarth, The ArtistsPortrait of William Hogarth

William Hogarth

A printmaker analyzes taste — and beauty comes out on top

1697 – 1764

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