The Analysis of Beauty

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Why do we consider some things beautiful and others ugly, some elegant and others awkward? English artist and satirist WILLIAM HOGARTH (1697-1764), who was so innovative that he invented what we call today the comic strip, was famous-some of his contemporaries would have said "infamous"-for his skewering of 18th-century ideals of morality and sexuality, especially those prevalent among the upper classes. And in this 1753 classic, he mounted an argument that might have appalled some of his detractors: that beauty is not a matter of taste and fashion, but arises naturally as a matter of certain inviolate rules. Decrying the "prejudice and self-opinion prejudices our sight," Hogarth explores the six principles he sees as guiding our eyes toward true beauty: fitness, variety, regularity, simplicity, intricacy, and quantity. Artists and students of both art history and 18th century culture will find this essential and fascinating reading.