William Hogarth. By Austin Dobson. (Kegan Paul. 12s.)— This new
and enlarged edition gives a very full picture of the subject of the biography. The author describes Hogarth as an honest Englishman of the bull-dog type ; misunderstood and underrated by the critics of his time. But Hogarth was a keen fighter and gave hard knocks to his detractors. Mr. Austin Dobson keeps in the beaten track of criticism ; that is to say, he regards the work of Hogarth almost entirely from the literary point of view. No doubt the man was more satirist than painter. Still, the didactic side of his genius has been so often explored, that a serious attempt to appreciate Hogarth as a painter would have been of great interest. One point is curious,—that is, how far superior Hogarth is as a technician when he works with a brush than when he engraves. Take the "Marriage a la mode." There is a subtlety of execution and delicacy of drawing which do not appear when he uses the burin. The modelling, which is so expressive yet so restrained in paint, becomes coarse and hard in the engraving. These defects were exaggerated when others engraved the pictures, but there is a technical gulf between Hogarth the painter and Hogarth the engraver. Mr. Austin Dobson has given copious lists of works painted and engraved, besides a bibliography with quotations from the more important books. The concluding chapter of the memoir is a sympathetic study of this most original genius, written with great charm and insight.
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