Hogarth at the Hustings: the Election Entertainment series and the birth of political satire
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Tuesday 7 January 2025
(6pm) - Online Zoom Event, link details will be emailed to attendees on the morning of the event
- Lecturer: Rupert Dickens
The long British tradition of political satire came to the fore again with our recent General Election. At the root of that tradition is William Hogarth’s Election Entertainment series of paintings and prints from the 1750s. His ruthless exposure of electoral corruption and hypocrisy sets the stage for later generations of satirists including James Gillray, Spitting Image and Private Eye. We will look closely at the Election series, explain Hogarth’s many jokes and references and reveal some themes with surprising topical relevance, from voter identification to the politics of immigration.
This online lecture will be recorded and available to ticketholders for two weeks after the event.
Lecturer
Rupert Dickens is an art historian with a special interest in Dutch and Flemish 16th and 17th century painting. He is an accredited Arts Society lecturer and works at the Wallace Collection as a guide conducting public and private tours and lecturing on aspects of the collection. Rupert is also a tour director for ACE Cultural Tours. He studied art history at Birkbeck College before undertaking a Masters in Dutch Golden Age Studies at University College London. Before that Rupert had a 26-year career as a BBC journalist ending as an editor in radio news.
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