Hogarth’s “Lost” Annotations

Spotlight Talk

Lecture by Dr. Zirwat Chowdhury, Assistant Professor of 18th- and 19th-Century European Art, Department of Art History (University of California, Los Angeles)

In this talk, Dr. Chowdhury will discuss an annotated copy of The Investigator No. CCCXXII, one of a series of essays published by the 18^th-century Scottish painter, Allan Ramsay. The annotations are those of Ramsay’s contemporary, the English painter and printmaker, William Hogarth. A prized document for its contribution to the artists’ important debates on art theory and aesthetic philosophy, the annotated volume has been understood by Hogarth scholars to have been long lost, even though it has been part of the Clark collections since it was acquired by William Andrews Clark Jr. in 1929. This talk will discuss how the annotated volume might expand our understanding of Hogarth’s theory of art, foundational to the history of 18^th-century British art and controversially espoused by the artist in 1753 in his treatise on art and aesthetics, The Analysis of Beauty.

Dr. Zirwat Chowdhury is Assistant Professor of 18^th– & 19^th-Century European Art at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research and teaching explore the interconnected histories and historiographies of art and visual culture in Britain, France, South Asia, and the Atlantic world in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Her first book, Enlightened Relations: Imperial Power and Artistic Form in 18^th-Century Britain, is forthcoming with Yale University Press for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art.

The Spotlight Talk aims to call attention to the wealth of materials housed at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library beyond those for which it is well-known, and especially to highlight the important research by our UCLA faculty at the Clark.

This event is free to attend with advance registration and will be held in-person at the Clark Library. Seating is limited. Walk-in registrants are welcome as space permits. The registration form will be posted here approximately one month in advance of the program.

This lecture will also be livestreamed on the Center’s YouTube channel. No registration is needed to watch the livestream.

Image: Hogarth, William. [Notes on the Investigator], 1755. Clark Library Rare Book Stacks; MS.1929.002.