A Midnight Modern Conversation, anonymous, William Hogarth, 1732 - 1800
etching, h 287mm × w 435mm More details
With this print – and particularly its title – Hogarth ridiculed the ‘Conversation Piece’, or informal group portrait, that was so popular in England at that time. This gathering of men is no longer simply engaged in conversation. Under the influence of alcohol, matters get a bit out of hand; clothing catches fire, not everything is kept down, and a man flies off his chair in the foreground.
