William Hogarth

William Hogarth's paintings examine eighteenth-century society through portraits and staged narratives. Marriage A-la-Mode follows a marriage arranged around family ambition and wealth across six paintings, with clothing, furniture, and gestures contributing to the story. These narrative subjects also circulated as engravings. Conversation pieces offer small informal group portraits, while The Shrimp Girl uses loose handling and an animated expression to portray a working London figure in an oil sketch.