Self-Portrait

William Hogarth, 1697–1764

ca. 1735

Oil on canvas

Yale Center for British Art

A man with a powdered wig looks directly at the viewer, holding a palette with dabs of paint. He is dressed in dark clothing with a white ruffled collar. From the 1730s, William Hogarth dominated debates about what kind of art was appropriate for Britain and helped to revolutionize the art market. This assertive self-portrait shows Hogarth at the height of his influence, when he had recently completed his first two satirical “modern moral subjects”: The Harlot’s Progress (1732) and The Rake’s Progress (1734). Hogarth thought these series taken from contemporary life were more suited to a modern commercial society than conventional history paintings. The sale of prints after these subjects earned Hogarth a considerable income and freed him from reliance on aristocratic patrons. When t