The Meaningless March in Hogarth's Comical Art

The Meaningless March in Hogarth's Comical Art

Jeff Kim

William Hogarth

The March of the Guards to Finchley

100.3 x 133.3 cm

Approximately 1749-1750

Oil on canvas

"The March of the Guards to Finchley," an oil on canvas painting created in 1750 by English painter William Hogarth, is one of the representative satirical painting in the 18th century, portraying the unorganized and corrupted British soldiers defending the capital against the Jacobite Rebellion led by Charles Edward Stuart. Hogarth originally intended to present this painting to George II as a gift, but got rejected because George II felt did not appreciate Hogarth's portrayal of the British army. This painting not only ridicules the British army, but also at the same time indirectly criticizes the corruption of the king and the empire since nobody in the painting seems to be ready to devote their lives to defend the nation against the rebellion.

Born on November 10th, 1697 in England as the fifth child of the family, William Hogarth had a poor childhood because of his father's debt. He started working as an apprentice at a silver workshop when he was 16, learning plate engraving. 7 years later, Hogarth opened his own plate-engraving shop and met artist Sir James Thornhill, learning art at his academy. His early works from the academy drew attention from the rich and the elites of the society because of his skillfulness. However, Hogarth focused on more social and political issues in his later works. For instance, "The Times," is considered as one of his anti-war satire supporting the peace movement in the Seven-Years War. "The March of the Guards to Finchley" is also a political satire by William Hogarth, and it is a great example of modern comical art.

The painting is filled with people mixed with the crowd and soldiers, looking very chaotic and disoriented. Starting from the left of the painting, there's a boy playing a flute and a man playing his drum as he marches, and they both seem to be a part of the army. In between the two, there's a woman grabbing the man's shoulder and a child weeping behind him. Behind the people in the front and under the placard of "Adam and Eve," there seems to be a fight as people surrounds the two people. Moving back to the front row of the painting, there is a woman with a baby tied on her back, smoking as she stares at the British flag. In the nearly center of the painting, there are two women holding onto the arms of a handsome soldier. Two women are both holding some kind of pile of documents or papers; the lady dressed in white has the papers in her baskets and the lady dressed in a black robe