Born in 1697, William Hogarth was the fifth child of Richard Hogarth, a schoolmaster and scholar from the north of England who came to London in the mid-1680s. In 1713, Hogarth was apprenticed to plate engraver, Ellis Gamble and seven years later he set up an independent business as an engraver. His early works included a number of commissions for bookplates and small, etched cards.
In 1721, Hogarth produced two inventive engraved allegories, “The South Sea Scheme” and “The Lottery”, which gained considerable attention. Soon after, he started his black and white satires, which made him so popular in Britain and abroad.
He married the daughter of his painting teacher, Sir James Thornhill in 1729. His first successful series called “The Harlot’s Progress” (now, of which only the engravings exist) was immediately followed by “The Rake’s Progress”. After an interval of twelve years, the masterpiece of the story “The Marriage a la Mode” was completed.
Hogarth opened his own academy in St. Martyn’s Lane in 1735. William Hogarth died in London in 1764 and is buried in Cheswick Cemetary.