Gravure 1763 W.Hogarth, The Bruiser C. Churchull ZELDZAAM

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joke waalre n137-7  1730 tm 1740

Hogarth wrede satire op de dronken en syphilitische predikant en vriend van de radicale John Wilkes, Charles Churchill.  Churchill had bezwaar gemaakt tegen satirische uitbeelding van de extreem lelijke Wilkes Hogarth, en op 2 juli 1763 geantwoord op de bekendmaking van een veroordelend pamflet. Een Brief aan William Hogarth, dat op Hogarth fysieke en artistieke achteruitgang doelde (hij stierf het volgende jaar).  Woedend en verbitterd, was de reactie van Hogarth op deze relatief milde kritiek op hem. Hij nam de koperplaat van zijn beroemde zelfportret met zijn pugdog Trump, zijn eigen beeld gepolijst uit de ovale canvas en vervangen door een reusachtige, lelijke beer die Churchill voorstelt,met het dragen van vuil en gescheurd kerkelijke banden, klemt een opschuimen kroes vol bier en leunend op een haveloze medewerkers wier knotholes worden ingeschreven Lyes.  Het portret rust nu op een stapel boeken ingeschreven Great George Street.  Een lijst van abonnees naar het noorden Brit (Wilkes leefde op dit moment in het Great George St. en zijn opruiende nieuwsblad was de 'Noord-Brit') en een nieuwe manier om oude schulden etc. Trump pissend nu Churchill's Een brief aan Hogarth door te betalen C. Churchill en op de voorgrond, rustend op een vouw van gordijn is leeg palet Hogarth (symboliseert dat zijn artistieke inspiratie hem had verlaten).
       

Method Copper engraving and etching
Artist William Hogarth
Published Design'd and Engraved by Wm. Hogarth. Publish'd according to Act of Parliament August 1. 1763.
Dimensions Image 339 x 258 mm
Notes A drastic reworking of one of Hogarth's earlier self-portraits, to become a biting lampoon of the satirist and poet, Charles Churchill. In 1763, Churchill published An Epistle to William Hogarth in defence of John Wilkes, whom Hogarth had attacked in a portrait earlier that year. Hogarth's response was to almost completely re-engrave his earlier self-portrait Gulielmus Hogarth, keeping only his pug-dog Trump, the curtain, and the oval canvas that originally depicted the artist himself. His portrait has been replaced by Churchill in the form of a Bear, dressed in the dirty and tattered robes of a clergyman. The bear drools down his front, and holds a tankard of ale in one hand and a Herculean club in the other, the knots of the club engraved with his fallacies and lies. In the foreground, Trump is now made to urinate on a copy of Churchill's Epistle, while one of the books has been re-inscribed so that its title now reads: 'A New Way to Pay Old Debts, A Comedy.' In the corner, a small cartoon in a frame has replaced the original palette and 'Line of Beauty' of the original engraving. In it, a miniature Hogarth whips the dancing bear. He has tethered the bear to a performing monkey, dressed in the accoutrements of John Wilkes. Edmunds suggests that the reworking of the plate also holds extra meaning, in that Hogarth, in reusing an old and worn plate, was disrespecting Churchill still further, suggesting that his portrait is not worthy of a new plate, though Paulson suggests a more pessimistic reading. Hogarth, his work having been superceded by the likes of Churchill, has committed a final act of self-destruction by literally effacing himself from the plate in favour of his new, and less talented, rival. The full title and inscription below reads: The Bruiser, C. Churchill (once the Revd:!) in the Character of a Russian Hercules, Regaling himself after having Kill'd the Monster Caricatura that so Sorely Gall'd his Virtuous friend, the Heaven born Wilkes - But he had a Club this Dragon to Drub, Or he had ne'er don't I warrant ye: - Dragon of Wantley

William Hogarth (1697 - 1764) was born in London, the son of an unsuccessful schoolmaster and writer from Westmoreland. After apprenticeship to a goldsmith, he began to produce his own engraved designs in about 1710. He later took up oil painting, starting with small portrait groups called conversation pieces. He went on to create a series of paintings satirising contemporary customs, but based on earlier Italian prints, of which the first was The Harlot's Progress (1731), and perhaps the most famous The Rake's Progress. His engravings were so plagiarised that he lobbied for the Copyright Act of 1735, commonly referred to as 'Hogarth's Act,' as a protection for writers and artists. During the 1730s Hogarth also developed into an original painter of life-sized portraits, and created the first of several history paintings in the grand manner.