Hogarth and Observed Life
The Reith Lectures
BBC
4.2 • 770 Ratings
🗓️ 23 October 1955
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This year's Reith lecturer is Dr Nikolaus Pevsner, the German-born British scholar of history of art and architecture, and author of the county guide series, The Buildings of England (1951–74). In this series, Dr Pevsner explores the qualities of art which he regards as particularly English, as illustrated in the works of several English artists, and what they say about the English national character.
In his second lecture, Dr Pevsner considers the 'Englishness' of the artist and satirist William Hogarth (1697-1764). He explores the characteristics which he says make Hogarth a particularly English artist, and argues that his work embodies the ideals of the Age of Reason.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is a podcast from the archives of the BBC Reith Lectures. |
| 0:04.8 | This lecture in the series The Englishness of English Art, given by Nicholas Pevsner, was originally broadcast in 1955. |
| 0:15.5 | We present the second in the series of BBC wreathures on the Englishness of English art, given |
| 0:22.8 | by Dr. Nicholas Pelsner. |
| 0:25.5 | He has called this lecture |
| 0:26.7 | Hogarth and |
| 0:28.8 | observed life. |
| 0:33.0 | It's almost impossible |
| 0:34.5 | to talk about art |
| 0:36.0 | unless one can show illustrations at the same time. |
| 0:40.3 | William Hogarth is to some extent an exception to this rule. |
| 0:45.3 | One can present many of the salient points about him just by describing a few of his pictures. |
| 0:52.3 | That is due to one particular trait in his art, |
| 0:56.6 | and that particular trait contributes more than anything else |
| 1:00.2 | to his outstanding Englishness. |
| 1:04.7 | Of the Englishness of Hogaas, there can be no doubt. |
| 1:08.1 | Time and again he has gone out of his way to parade it. He went abroad only once |
| 1:14.1 | to France, and a fellow traveller says that wherever he went he was sure to be dissatisfied with |
| 1:21.8 | all he saw. He was often clamorously rude in the streets. |
| 1:28.6 | And he signed a letter to the press, Britofile, and complained in it of foreign interlopers. |
| 1:35.9 | And he dissuaded young artists from travelling to Italy because it would seduce the student |
| 1:41.6 | from nature. Now what did Hogarth call nature? |
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