| Maker(s): | Hogarth, William
| | Culture: | British (1697-1764)
| | Title: | Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn
| | Date Made: | 1738
| | Type: | Print
| | Materials: | Etching and engraving
| | Place Made: | Europe; United Kingdom; Great Britain; England
| | Measurements: | mat: 22 3/4 x 27 5/8 in.; 57.785 x 70.1675 cm; sheet: 18 x 22 1/2 in.; 45.72 x 57.15 cm; plate: 17 3/4 x 22 1/4 in.; 45.085 x 56.515 cm; image: 16 5/8 x 21 1/8 in.; 42.2275 x 53.6575 cm
| | Narrative Inscription: | LR on plate "Invented, Painted, Engraved & published by Wm Hogarth, March 25, 1738, according to act of parliament. On back in pencil: "P156 4/IV AG 3/III". Watermark: "perhaps double-headed eagle, only partially visible" (dealer comments)
| | Accession Number: | MH 2003.16.1
| | Credit Line: | Purchase with the Art Acquisition Endowment Fund
| | Museum Collection: | Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
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Description:
Intensely detailed activities of an acting company preparing for a performance and using a barn as dressing room. Lower left has a crown with label: "The act against strolling players". To its right on a bed is another flier reading: " By a company of comedians from The Theatres of London..." Watermark, perhaps double eagle, partially visible.
Label Text:
This complex print shows a troupe of actresses and child actors preparing for an evening performance. The dilapidated barn is littered with pieces of stage scenery and props, such as celestial clouds and Roman standards, which set the scene for the numerous visual plays on high and low culture within the composition. Actresses were associated with prostitution at this time. Here the scene is dominated by a pretty young woman in the centre. As the viewers take in her provocatively displayed body, she acknowledges their presence with a sideways look and faint smile. Her hair ornaments include a moon, the symbol of Diana, the virgin huntress. Thus she is both undressing and ‘performing’ as the goddess.
Hogarth Exhibition, Tate Britian, London (Feb. 7 - April 29, 2007)
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=MH+2003.16.1 |
