六合彩预测

William Hogarth听1697鈥�1764
NG 1162听
The Shrimp Girl

Judy Egerton, 2000

Extracted from:
Judy Egerton,听The British Paintings (London: 六合彩预测 Company and Yale University Press, 2000).

c. 1740鈥�5

Oil on canvas, 63.5 脳 52.5 cm (25 脳 20戮 in.)

Provenance

Remained in Hogarth鈥檚 studio, and with his widow until her death in 1789; Mrs Hogarth鈥檚 sale by Mr Greenwood at the Golden Head, Leicester Square, 24 April 1790 (51, as 鈥楾he shrimp girl, a sketch鈥�), bt Mathew Mitchell, and in his sale after his death, Christie鈥檚 8 March 1819 (31, 鈥楢n Oyster Woman, a Sketch鈥�), bt Seguier 拢15 4s. 6d.; George Watson Taylor, Erlestoke Park, Wiltshire, where sold by George Robins, 14th day, 24 July 1832 (47, 42 guineas); Sir William Miles, Leigh Court, near Bristol (by 1854), by descent to Sir Philip Miles, sold Christie鈥檚 28 June 1884 (31, 250 guineas), bt Agnew鈥檚 for the 六合彩预测 (Wheeler Fund).

Exhibited

London, South Kensington Museum, 1862 (40); RA Winter 1875 (31); Paris, Louvre, 1938 (68); Art Institute of Chicago and Toronto, Art Gallery, Masterpieces of English Painting, 1946鈥�7 (4); Manchester, City Art Gallery, William Hogarth, 1954 (39); Tate Gallery 1971鈥�2 (129); Munich, Haus der Kunst, Zwei Jahrhunderte englische Malerei: Britische Kunste und Europa 1680 bis 1880, 1988 (x); Leningrad and Moscow 1988 (no cat.); Tate Gallery, Hogarth the Painter, 1997 (8).

At the Tate Gallery 1960鈥�1; 1963鈥�4.

Literature

Nichols and Steevens 1817, III, p. 270; R.B. Beckett, Hogarth, London 1949, p. 72; Davies 1959, p. 68; Frederick Antal, Hogarth and his Place in European Art, London 1962, pp. 116鈥�17; Robert Raines, Marcellus Laroon, London 1967, p. 14; Paulson 1971, I, p. 203; II, p. 246; Jack Lindsay, Hogarth: His Art and his World, London 1977, pp. 134鈥�5; Webster 1978, pp. 119, 122.

Engraved

in stipple, and in reverse, by Bartolozzi, (1) first state, before title, Engravd from an Original Sketch in Oil in the possession of Mrs Hogarth, published Dec.24, 1781, by R. Livesay; (2) lettered 鈥楽丑谤颈尘辫蝉!鈥�, published 25 March 1782 by Jane Hogarth and R[ichar]d Livesay, Leicester Fields: repr. John Ireland and John Nichols, Hogarth鈥檚 Works, 3rd series, London n.d., following p. 268.

Technical Notes

Cleaned and relined in 1966. In very good condition, though thinly painted, with ground visible in many places. The paint has become slightly lighter in a strip about 5 cm wide at both sides, roughly corresponding to the width of the stretcher bars.

The picture is painted on a white ground (several layers as in the Marriage A鈥恖a鈥怣ode series), composed of lead white mixed with chalk. The ground is now rather grey through discoloration. This priming layer is left unpainted in parts of the composition, for example in the light鈥恈oloured patch beneath the girl鈥檚 鈥榮ou鈥檞ester鈥�, to the left side of her face.

The sou鈥檞ester, presumably made of oilskin, is intended to be a dark bluish grey since the paint contains traces of Prussian blue (mixed with black pigment, white and a little yellow ochre).

Discussion

The earliest record of the picture appears to be in 1781, when John Nichols listed 鈥榓 most spirited sketch in oil of a young fishwoman鈥� among works which remained in Mrs Hogarth鈥檚 possession nearly two decades after Hogarth鈥檚 death.¹ The title 鈥楽丑谤颈尘辫蝉!鈥� lettered on Bartolozzi鈥檚 engraving of the subject, published in 1782, must have been intended to suggest the girl鈥檚 street cry; but it is Bartolozzi鈥檚 title rather than Hogarth鈥檚. The title The Shrimp Girl first appears in Christie鈥檚 1790 sale catalogue of works remaining in Hogarth鈥檚 studio after Mrs Hogarth鈥檚 death; and apart from Mathew Mitchell鈥檚 sale in 1819 in which the picture was called 鈥楢n Oyster Woman鈥�, it has been used ever since.

Hogarth probably knew Marcellus Lauron鈥檚 Cryes of the City of London, Drawne after the Life, published in various editions between 1688 and 1733.² Raines (1967) suggests that The Shrimp Girl has something of the feeling of Lauron鈥檚 Six pence a pound fair Cherryes; the subject has even stronger affinities with Buy my Dish of Great Eeles (fig. 1).³ But it is unlikely that Hogarth needed inspiration from Lauron (or any other artist⁴) to paint a 鈥榝颈蝉丑飞辞尘补苍鈥� whom he could have observed at first hand as she cried her wares in the London streets.

For at least a century before and a century after Hogarth painted The Shrimp Girl, most of the itinerant sellers of shellfish in London were women, usually the daughters or wives of fishmongers in the markets. Donald Lupton describes them in 1632⁵ as 鈥榗rying, wandering and travelling creatures [who] carry their shops on their heads, and their store is ordinarily Billingsgate鈥� They set up every morning their trade afresh. They are easily set up and furnished, get something and spend it jovially and merrily. Five shillings, a basket and a good cry, is a large stock for one of them鈥︹�� By the 1850s, Henry Mayhew observed that most fishmongers worked from stalls or pitches in the streets; but 鈥榯he females in the shrimp line鈥� still went through the streets, especially in wet weather, 鈥榳hen people prefer buying at their doors鈥�; their cry, he noted, was 鈥楢 penny half鈥恜int, fine fresh s鈥檙imps鈥�.⁶ Hogarth sketches in a half鈥恜int measure in the basket balanced on his 鈥楽hrimp Girl鈥檚鈥� head; a few darker shells suggest that she sells mussels (? and cockles) as well as shrimps. She wears what Mayhew was later to describe as the shrimp鈥恠eller鈥檚 customary garb 鈥� 鈥榓 hybrid sort of cloak, half a man鈥檚 and half a woman鈥檚 garment鈥�⁷ 鈥� somewhat greasy, and perhaps made of oilskin. But nothing can dim her vitality. Showing the picture to visitors after Hogarth鈥檚 death, with a wealth of contempt for some critics鈥� attempts [page 183][page 184]to demote him to a mere caricaturist, Mrs Hogarth reputedly liked to remark: 鈥楾hey say he could not paint flesh and blood. There鈥檚 flesh and blood for you: 鈥� them!鈥�⁸

There can be no doubt that this sketch is from life; and although Hogarth may never have known the girl鈥檚 name, Paulson is surely right in calling this 鈥榓 portrait鈥�.⁹ Compared with the 鈥榝ancy pictures鈥� of pretty street vendors which became popular some fifty years later, such as John Hoppner鈥檚 Girl with Sallad, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1782 (fig. 3, for which the sitter was in fact the artist鈥檚 wife Phoebe),¹⁰ or with the still more prettified girls crying Two bunches a penny primroses or Sweet China Oranges in Francis Wheatley鈥檚 Itinerant Trades of London (engraved 1793鈥�5, and frequently copied),¹¹ Hogarth鈥檚 image is direct and wholly unpatronising. This painter recognises that the 鈥楽hrimp Girl鈥� is an individual in her own right, and does not presume to tidy her up. It is difficult to agree with Antal that this is 鈥榥ot a work on its own account鈥� but was 鈥榠ntended for a figure in one of Hogarth鈥檚 finished compositions鈥�,¹² and equally difficult to agree with Webster that Hogarth 鈥榤ust have intended to work it up to a much smoother finish鈥�.¹³

Beckett (1949) considered The Shrimp Girl to be 鈥榥ot datable, but fairly late鈥�;¹⁴ since no pointers to a precise date have emerged, 鈥榗irca 1740鈥�5鈥�, as suggested by Webster (1978), remains the likeliest approximation to its date. No comparable single鈥恌igure oil sketches by Hogarth are known. Oil sketches of groups such as The Dance, of about 1745 (one of three surviving sketches for an unfinished series to have been called 鈥楾he Happy Marriage鈥�),¹⁵ show a similar brilliance of rapid handling, but The Shrimp Girl appears to be unique in being painted from life, spontaneously, and for its own sake.

The Shrimp Girl remained in Hogarth鈥檚 studio during the remaining twenty years or so of his life. He did not add a single brushstroke to her image. He was no doubt well aware that his Shrimp Girl triumphantly illustrated his own dictum that 鈥榠f a thing is good, the action and the passion may be more truly and distinctly conveyed by a coarse bold stroke than the most delicate finishing鈥�.

In the early 1850s Dr Waagen, Director of the Berlin Gallery, went to see Sir William Miles鈥檚 collection at Leigh Court, near Bristol. He went chiefly to see the revered Altieri Claudes in the Saloon; he was delighted to come across The Shrimp Girl, 鈥榓nimatedly conceived and sketched with the utmost freedom鈥�, hanging less obtrusively in the Little Dining鈥怰oom.¹⁶

Notes