William Hogarth, The Bruiser, Original Antique Print Engraved 1763, Unframed William Hogarth Antique Prints,William Hogarth - Original Antique Prints

Size: Mount 34 x 43 cm, print image 26 x 34 cm Condition: Print in very good condition, strong impression on stout wove paper, very clean. Publication: This copy of the print is from the "Heath" edition, published in about 1822, and is from Hogarth's original copper plate. This extraordinary print is 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 the plate of his earlier 1749 self-portrait, 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 His portrait has been replaced by Churchill in the form of a Bear, dressed in the dirty and tattered robes of a clergyman.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. 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) can fairly claim to be the most influential graphic artist of the 18th century in Britain, although he was also a painter of high repute. His rise to fame from a lowly background and his pugnacious character informed his life and his work, which continues to be exhibited and re-interpreted today A great print for frequent viewing and a superb piece of graphic art.