4 postcards in a presentation box depicting Hogarth's masterpiece of political satire ‘An Election, 1754-5’. The four paintings in Hogarth’s final ‘modern moral subject’ series were inspired by the notorious Oxfordshire contest in the General Election of 1754. Oxfordshire had been held, uncontested, by the party of 'Old Interest', the Tories, since 1710.
In 1752 the Whigs, the party of 'New Interest', who already held a large majority in Parliament, decided to contest the Oxfordshire seats and this heralded a two-year campaign characterised by unprecedented levels of bribery and corruption.
Hogarth started the four paintings not long after the General Election was held and by this time the events in Oxfordshire had been widely publicised through journals and pamphlets. The respective allegiances of the candidates and supporters in the paintings can be gleaned from the colours of the ribbons and banners: orange for the Whigs, blue for the Tories.
The back of each postcard has a short description detailing the action contained within each painting.
Dimensions 17.5x12.5cm
To find out more about this series of painting copy and paste the below link into the address bar:
http://www.soane.org/collections_legacy/the_soane_hogarths/an_election/ |
