Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn
May 1738
Medium
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 42.3 × 53.8 cm (16 11/16 × 21 3/16 in.); Plate: 45 × 56.1 cm (17 3/4 × 22 1/8 in.); Sheet: 49.3 × 62.8 cm (19 7/16 × 24 3/4 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
80820
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn was William Hogarth’s ardent protest against Robert Walpole’s Licensing Act of 1737. The act gave the British government the power to heavily censor theatrical productions. Sentimentalist domestic plays and Shakespeare were the only productions allowed on stage. Hogarth’s engraving shows actresses dressed as Classical deities preparing for a performance in a shabby and chaotic backstage setting. The artist critiqued the British government’s pompous attempt ...
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...