Gin Lane
1751
Medium
Engraved copper plate
Dimensions
15 7/16 x 12 7/8 in. (39.2 x 32.7 cm)
Classification
Plates
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1921
Accession Number
21.55.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
William Hogarth's *Gin Lane* (1751) is a powerful engraved copper plate print, measuring 15 7/16 x 12 7/8 inches, that captures the artist's signature satirical style. As a leading figure in 18th-century British art, Hogarth used intricate engravings to critique vices, producing affordable prints that reached a wide audience beyond elite collectors. This work, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints, exemplifies his mastery of the medium, where fine lines and dense details create a chaotic urban tableau. Created amid London's "Gin Craze" of the 1740s–50s, *Gin Lane* vividl...
About the Artist
William Hogarth · 1697–1764
William Hogarth (1697-1764) was an English painter, printmaker, and pictorial satirist who became the first great English-born artist to attract admiration abroad. Born into poverty in London, the son of a failed schoolmaster who was imprisoned for debt, Hogarth's early experiences with the harsh realities of 18th-century urban life profoundly shaped his artistic vision. After apprenticing with si...