Hogarth’s House Autumn Talks Series

Hogarth’s House Autumn Talks Series

Talk 1 (Tuesday 25th October, 6:30pm) – At Home with the Hogarths, by Val Bott

Talk 2 (Monday 7th November, 6:30pm) – Hogarth’s Drawings: Sketches, Studies and Plans, by Sheila O’Connell

Talk 3 (Monday 21st November, 6:30pm) – Hogarth & his Animals, by Elizabeth Einberg

Each ticket is £10 per person*, and we’re running a special multi-buy OFFER where you can book the 3 tickets for the price of 2 – that’s £20 per person in total*! Plus, if you get the multi-buy offer AND attend all the 3 talks, you get a FREE glass of wine to mark the end of the series on the third talk**.

The galleries will remain open to visitors until the talk begins. The bar will be open before and after the talk with beer, wine and soft drinks. Please keep drinks in the Learning Studio.

Hogarth’s House, located in Chiswick, is the former home of the 18th century artist and satirist William Hogarth. It is owned and managed by the London Borough of Hounslow.


Please Note:

* This price excludes the Eventbrite fee.

** You can swap your glass of wine to a soft drink.


Our Talks

Talk 1 (Tuesday 25th October, doors open at 6:00 pm, talk from 7:00-8:00 pm): At Home with the Hogarths, by Val Bott

A view of Hogarth’s House in the background, with the original mulberry tree in the foreground.

A talk relating to our special exhibition: At Home with the Hogarths. Enjoy exclusive access to the exhibition before this talk by the curator

In this illustrated talk, local historian Val Bott will draw upon the research behind the At Home with the Hogarths special exhibition. Elizabeth Einberg’s catalogue of Hogarth’s paintings, published in 2016, provided rich detail about family members, servants and the Hogarths’ circle. Val will introduce the audience to these fascinating people with more detail and colour than could be included in the exhibition. At Home with the Hogarths is a free special exhibition running until 6 November.

Val Bott researched the friends and neighbours, supporting the displays seen in the permanent galleries refurbished in 2012 and for her Hogarth’s House book from Scala Publications.


Talk 2 (Monday 7th November, doors open at 6:00 pm, talk from 7:00-8:00 pm): Hogarth’s Drawings: Sketches, Studies and Slans, by Sheila O’Connell

Some artists draw constantly, filling sketchbooks with records of whatever they see and planning their paintings with detailed studies before putting brush to canvas. This wasn’t William Hogarth’s way. He didn’t make a great number of drawings, but those that survive (about 100) reflect his energy and individualism. The focus will be on Industry and Idleness where drawings show Hogarth ‘thinking on paper’.

Sheila O’Connell was a curator at the British Museum for 30 years where her responsibilities included the major collection of Hogarth’s prints and drawings.


Talk 3 (Monday 21st November, doors open at 6:00 pm, talk from 7:00-8:00 pm): Hogarth & his Animals, by Elizabeth Einberg

Trump in the Oriel Window at Hogarth’s House

Hogarth was not a specialist animal painter (like e.g. George Stubbs or John Wootton) but he could paint any animal he wanted with natural force. His relationship to the animals he put in his pictures, however, was different from anyone else’s. None of them are merely portraits, but are there to comment, either subtly or directly, on his subject matter and on the circumstances and views of his sitters.

Elizabeth Einberg was for 28 years Assistant Keeper of the Historic British Collection of the Tate Gallery (now Tate Britain), specialising in 18th century British painting and Hogarth in particular. After retiring in 1998, she compiled the first comprehensive catalogue of Hogarth’s paintings since 1949, which was published by Yale University and the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in 2016.