Hogarth: A Life and a World (Hardcover)

Hogarth recorded his life in his art rather than in literary documents, but fortunately for his biographers, his art everywhere displayed his attitudes to, and his interaction with, his times. It's not surprising, therefore, that Uglow's sub-title is "A Life and a World".

And she renders that world of eighteenth-century London superbly. Want to know about deism, the Bangorian Controversy, the culture of procuresses and brothels, the attitudes to women? Go for it - it's all there. Or perhaps you've forgotten what little you knew about the political system of the time, the aesthetic theories, the influence of The Spectator, or the impact of the opera on cultural life? Good - that's also there.

Not only is it there but it is also insinuated so smoothly into the biographical narrative that you're scarcely aware you're being instructed. Moreover, if the reviews I've read are representative, you may also be unaware that some of this instruction is couched in ravishingly beautiful prose. Re-read the sections on Gay's "The Beggar's Opera", Walpole's reputation and the culture of refinement and politeness, for example. Are you not in the hands of a writer who has the rhythms of classic English prose throbbing through her veins? Not convinced? Read it aloud.

At his best, Hogarth was a portraitist of genius. At her best, so is Jenny Uglow. Gaze upon her brilliant joint portrait of Hogarth and Fielding in Chapter 9, but be sure to gaze in awe.

And the mention of Fielding is a reminder that Uglow has already written a study of him, as well as biographies of Elizabeth Gaskell and George Eliot. Presumably she is steeped in the culture of English literature. It shows. Her analyses of Hogarth's works are infused with that attention to detailed perception and critical interpretation that dominated academic "close reading" literary criticism decades ago. They draw attention to details you've never noticed before and fill in historical and biographical background you've never been privy to.

This biography is a wonderful read for anyone interested in Hogarth the artist, or for anyone fascinated by Hogarth, the tough-minded, opportunistic, satirical subversive. William Hazlitt captured the essence of the artist in eight words when he said Hogarth was "carried away by a passion for the ridiculous" - a point well supported by the dozens of reproductions threaded through the text. Jenny Uglow boils down the essence of the man when she says that obedience and submissivness were never his virtues, a point supported by the sharply written anecdotes that pepper the narrative.

She needs more space to capture the spirit of the times, but capture it she does in the many passages of historical background and the pen portraits of London. (Don't miss the street walk at the beginning of Chapter 15.)

After spending 20 hours of so in Jenny Uglow's model of Hogarth's world, you may, like me, be reluctant to return to the real one...of cooking and cleaning and...oh, no!...I can't stand it: I'm going back to Southwark Fair and the Harlot's Progress and, yes, even to Satan, Sin and Death!