William Hogarth was one of the founders of the English school of painting and, at the same time, the originator of a counter tradition to the very school he helped establish. Born in London and trained there, first by himself and then at John Vanderbank's drawing school, he made important contributions to portraiture, landscape painting, history painting, and aesthetic theory through his book Analysis of Beauty. A man of remarkable versatility, Hogarth made an even greater impact on popular satires which he sold to a broad audience of English men and women who had not owned or bought art before. Hogarth is credited as a forerunner of the modern comic strip for his series of satirical narrative engravings A Rake's Progress and Marriage a la Mode.

Born in London

Hogarth was born November 10, 1697, in the Smithfield Market section of London, England, the city that was his lifelong home...