The History, Politics, and Ethics of Time
HISTORY 328, GERMAN 365
School of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Faculty member: Helmut Puff (History, German)
Sonia Sheridan
Self-Portrait in Time
digital print on paper
30 1/16 in. x 39 15/16 in. ( 76.3 cm x 101.5 cm )
Gift of Professor Diane M. Kirkpatrick
Time grounds our lives, and yet it often escapes notice. “The History, Politics, and Ethics of Time” asks students to consider the history, politics, and ethics of notions of time to gain a richer understanding of how our conceptions of it shape who we are. Art is able to represent the many ways people have experienced and understood time, and here it plays a central role in the students’ exploration of what time is and has been.
Featuring works of art that employ various forms of visual narration, the installation takes up a number of questions that illuminate how varied our experiences of time are. What is a moment, how long is it, and how do sequences of moments become assembled into stories? What does waiting tell us about time? How do artists visually represent things like the past and the future or memory and forgetting? Together, these works of art have us imagine temporality as multiple and help us understand that our perceptions of it are always anchored in our experience of time in the present.
Works included in this collection
Accession Number
1983/1.136
Title
Temple
Artist(s)
Roy Lichtenstein
Artist Nationality
American (North American)
Object Creation Date
1964
Medium & Support
two-color offset lithograph on wove paper
Dimensions
23 7/16 in x 17 11/16 in (59.53 cm x 44.93 cm);30 1/16 in x 25 1/16 in (76.36 cm x 63.66 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. & Mrs. J. Robert Willson
Subject matter
Temple.
Physical Description
Black and white print using Ben Day dots to depict a part of the facade of a temple.
Primary Object Classification
Print
Primary Object Type
black and white print
Additional Object Classification(s)
Print
Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
1983/1.136
Title
Temple
Artist(s)
Roy Lichtenstein
Artist Nationality
American (North American)
Object Creation Date
1964
Medium & Support
two-color offset lithograph on wove paper
Dimensions
23 7/16 in x 17 11/16 in (59.53 cm x 44.93 cm);30 1/16 in x 25 1/16 in (76.36 cm x 63.66 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. & Mrs. J. Robert Willson
Subject matter
Temple.
Physical Description
Black and white print using Ben Day dots to depict a part of the facade of a temple.
Primary Object Classification
Primary Object Type
black and white print
Additional Object Classification(s)
Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Roy Lichtenstein
Temple
two-color offset lithograph on wove paper
23 7/16 in x 17 11/16 in (59.53 cm x 44.93 cm);30 1/16 in x 25 1/16 in (76.36 cm x 63.66 cm)
Gift of Dr. & Mrs. J. Robert Willson
Temple
two-color offset lithograph on wove paper
23 7/16 in x 17 11/16 in (59.53 cm x 44.93 cm);30 1/16 in x 25 1/16 in (76.36 cm x 63.66 cm)
Gift of Dr. & Mrs. J. Robert Willson
Accession Number
2013/2.559.1
Title
Sketch of the Baths of Caracalla
Artist(s)
Artist Unknown
Medium & Support
red crayon on laid paper
Dimensions
6 1/2 x 5 1/8 in. (16.51 x 13.02 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink
Physical Description
A sketch of ancient ruins. At the center is a colonnaded apse that has partially collapsed. To the left, there are a series of columns. On the reverse, there is a sketch of a sculpture.
Primary Object Classification
Drawing
Primary Object Type
architectural drawing
Additional Object Classification(s)
Drawing
Collection Area
Western
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
2013/2.559.1
Title
Sketch of the Baths of Caracalla
Artist(s)
Artist Unknown
Medium & Support
red crayon on laid paper
Dimensions
6 1/2 x 5 1/8 in. (16.51 x 13.02 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink
Physical Description
A sketch of ancient ruins. At the center is a colonnaded apse that has partially collapsed. To the left, there are a series of columns. On the reverse, there is a sketch of a sculpture.
Primary Object Classification
Drawing
Primary Object Type
architectural drawing
Additional Object Classification(s)
Drawing
Collection Area
Western
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Artist Unknown
Sketch of the Baths of Caracalla
red crayon on laid paper
6 1/2 x 5 1/8 in. (16.51 x 13.02 cm)
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink
Sketch of the Baths of Caracalla
red crayon on laid paper
6 1/2 x 5 1/8 in. (16.51 x 13.02 cm)
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink
Accession Number
1983/1.291
Title
Man Climbing Ladder, Plate III
Artist(s)
Eadweard Muybridge
Artist Nationality
British (modern)
Object Creation Date
1884-1886
Medium & Support
collotype on paper
Dimensions
19 in x 24 1/8 in (48.3 cm x 61.3 cm);22 1/8 in x 28 3/16 in (56.2 cm x 71.6 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Marvin Felheim Collection
Subject matter
This photograph is divided in a grid of two rows, each made up of eleven vertical images. In these images, a naked man climbs the rungs of a ladder, each frame showing the movement of his body as he makes his ascent. The top row of images depict this action with the man’s back to the viewer with the ladder propped against a dark background. The action can be read from left to right as a sequence of incremental movements, showing the subtle nuances of the man’s body as he climbs. The bottom row of images depict the same action with what is presumably the same man, though from a side view and located in an exterior environment. Numbered in the bottom left corner of each frame, the photograph has the feel of a scientific document, created and controlled as an observed experiment. Additionally, the multiple frames reference movement and mark the beginnings of what would later become the moving image. The kinetic movement of the man is captured in a series of fractured images, which when arranged in a sequence, depict the clear progression of his movement.
Physical Description
This photograph is divided in a grid of two rows, each made up of eleven vertical images. In each of these frames, a naked man is shown climbing the rungs of a ladder. Each frame depicts the movement of his body as he makes his ascent.
Primary Object Classification
Photograph
Collection Area
Photography
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
1983/1.291
Title
Man Climbing Ladder, Plate III
Artist(s)
Eadweard Muybridge
Artist Nationality
British (modern)
Object Creation Date
1884-1886
Medium & Support
collotype on paper
Dimensions
19 in x 24 1/8 in (48.3 cm x 61.3 cm);22 1/8 in x 28 3/16 in (56.2 cm x 71.6 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Marvin Felheim Collection
Subject matter
This photograph is divided in a grid of two rows, each made up of eleven vertical images. In these images, a naked man climbs the rungs of a ladder, each frame showing the movement of his body as he makes his ascent. The top row of images depict this action with the man’s back to the viewer with the ladder propped against a dark background. The action can be read from left to right as a sequence of incremental movements, showing the subtle nuances of the man’s body as he climbs. The bottom row of images depict the same action with what is presumably the same man, though from a side view and located in an exterior environment. Numbered in the bottom left corner of each frame, the photograph has the feel of a scientific document, created and controlled as an observed experiment. Additionally, the multiple frames reference movement and mark the beginnings of what would later become the moving image. The kinetic movement of the man is captured in a series of fractured images, which when arranged in a sequence, depict the clear progression of his movement.
Physical Description
This photograph is divided in a grid of two rows, each made up of eleven vertical images. In each of these frames, a naked man is shown climbing the rungs of a ladder. Each frame depicts the movement of his body as he makes his ascent.
Primary Object Classification
Photograph
Collection Area
Photography
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Eadweard Muybridge
Man Climbing Ladder, Plate III
collotype on paper
19 in x 24 1/8 in (48.3 cm x 61.3 cm);22 1/8 in x 28 3/16 in (56.2 cm x 71.6 cm)
Gift of the Marvin Felheim Collection
Man Climbing Ladder, Plate III
collotype on paper
19 in x 24 1/8 in (48.3 cm x 61.3 cm);22 1/8 in x 28 3/16 in (56.2 cm x 71.6 cm)
Gift of the Marvin Felheim Collection
Accession Number
1971/2.59
Title
The Four Times of Day: Night
Artist(s)
William Hogarth
Object Creation Date
1738
Medium & Support
etching and engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
18 3/16 in x 16 in (46.2 cm x 40.64 cm);28 1/16 in x 22 1/16 in (71.28 cm x 56.04 cm);23 ⅛ in x 18 ¼ in (58.74 cm x 46.36 cm);17 7/16 in x 14 ⅜ in (44.29 cm x 36.51 cm);18 3/16 in x 16 in (46.2 cm x 40.64 cm)
Credit Line
Museum Purchase
Label copy
*Gallery Rotation Winter 2011 (January 2011)
[Hogarth intro label]
Hogarth created several series of images, such as The Rake’s Progress and Marriage à la Mode, satirizing the mores and values of eighteenth-century England. In The Four Times of Day—a series of prints made after his paintings and intended for a wider audience—Hogarth employed humor both to comment on contemporary society and to breathe new life into the genre of images that marks the progression of time by depicting the seasons, the stages of life, or the times of day.
Turning a long tradition on its head, Hogarth’s portrayals of the times of day (morning, noon, evening, and night) are situated in specific locations in contemporary London rather than an in idealized classical past. Each of the sites he chose was considered disreputable in its day and the congested settings act as foils and contexts for the figures. In this way the pastoral, eternal, and ideal images of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses so often encountered in traditional paintings in this genre become urban, specific, and comic. In addition to creating a specifically English kind of imagery, Hogarth disrupts the tradition linking the times of day with particular seasons, i.e. morning with spring, midday with summer, evening with fall, and night with winter. Instead his cycle begins with winter, which he links to morning, and ends with autumn, which he links to night.
William Hogarth
England, 1697–1764
The Four Times of Day: Night
1738
Etching and engraving
Museum purchase, 1971/2.59
This image of nocturnal mishap is set near Charring Cross—identifiable by the large statue of Charles I in the distance—a central staging post for coaches. Before the ubiquitous tavern is an inebriated Freemason identifiable as Sir Thomas de Veil, a magistrate extremely unpopular for his strict enforcing of the Gin Act. Supported by his servant, he is oblivious as waste tossed from an upper window descends on his head. Meanwhile the Salisbury Flying Coach is hardly flying. Not only has it been overturned, but the bonfire is about to ignite it and a stray firework enters the carriage window.
Gallery Rotation Winter 2011
William Hogarth
England, 1697–1764
The Four Times of Day: Night
1738
Etching and engraving
Museum purchase, 1971/2.59
This image of nocturnal mishap is set near Charring Cross—identifiable by the large statue of Charles I in the distance—a central staging post for coaches. Before the ubiquitous tavern is an inebriated Freemason identifiable as Sir Thomas de Veil, a magistrate extremely unpopular for his strict enforcing of the Gin Act. Supported by his servant, he is oblivious as waste tossed from an upper window descends on his head. Meanwhile the Salisbury Flying Coach is hardly flying. Not only has it been overturned, but the bonfire is about to ignite it and a stray firework enters the carriage window.
Subject matter
Hogarth created several print series that satirize mores and values of 18th century England. In his suite, "The Four Times of Day," executed after a series of paintings, he employed humor, not just to comment on London society but to breathe new life into images marking the times of day. Hogarth translated portrayals of the times of the day from their pastoral origins to that of contemporary London. The pastoral, eternal and ideal here become urban, specific and comic. Each of the London sites shown in this series was considered disreputable in its day and the congested setting acts as a foil and context for the figures.
An image of nocturnal mishap, "Night" is set near Charring Cross and shows, along with the ubiquitous tavern, an inebriated Freemason identified as Sir Thomas De Veil. De Veil, a magistrate known for his harsh treatment for drunkenness is supported by his servant as slops tossed from an upper window descends on the pair. More mayhem is represented by the overturned “Flying Salisbury Coach”—hardly flying as it catches fire, most likely from the torch held by the boy at the far left.
Physical Description
This print is vertically oriented with gray markings. A cream border surrounds it and it has “NIGHT” written below it. The lower half of the print has a busy street scene with lots of people taking parts of several stories (e.g. someone empting a chamber pot on people on the street, a tipped over carriage that is being set on fire, a quack doctor performing an operation in a candlelit room). The upper half of the print shows the tops of the buildings that line the street, iron-wrought shop signs, a statue of a man on horseback in the distance, and a crescent moon in a cloudy sky.
Primary Object Classification
Print
Primary Object Type
intaglio print
Additional Object Classification(s)
Print
Collection Area
Western
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
1971/2.59
Title
The Four Times of Day: Night
Artist(s)
William Hogarth
Object Creation Date
1738
Medium & Support
etching and engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
18 3/16 in x 16 in (46.2 cm x 40.64 cm);28 1/16 in x 22 1/16 in (71.28 cm x 56.04 cm);23 ⅛ in x 18 ¼ in (58.74 cm x 46.36 cm);17 7/16 in x 14 ⅜ in (44.29 cm x 36.51 cm);18 3/16 in x 16 in (46.2 cm x 40.64 cm)
Credit Line
Museum Purchase
Label copy
*Gallery Rotation Winter 2011 (January 2011)
[Hogarth intro label]
Hogarth created several series of images, such as The Rake’s Progress and Marriage à la Mode, satirizing the mores and values of eighteenth-century England. In The Four Times of Day—a series of prints made after his paintings and intended for a wider audience—Hogarth employed humor both to comment on contemporary society and to breathe new life into the genre of images that marks the progression of time by depicting the seasons, the stages of life, or the times of day.
Turning a long tradition on its head, Hogarth’s portrayals of the times of day (morning, noon, evening, and night) are situated in specific locations in contemporary London rather than an in idealized classical past. Each of the sites he chose was considered disreputable in its day and the congested settings act as foils and contexts for the figures. In this way the pastoral, eternal, and ideal images of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses so often encountered in traditional paintings in this genre become urban, specific, and comic. In addition to creating a specifically English kind of imagery, Hogarth disrupts the tradition linking the times of day with particular seasons, i.e. morning with spring, midday with summer, evening with fall, and night with winter. Instead his cycle begins with winter, which he links to morning, and ends with autumn, which he links to night.
William Hogarth
England, 1697–1764
The Four Times of Day: Night
1738
Etching and engraving
Museum purchase, 1971/2.59
This image of nocturnal mishap is set near Charring Cross—identifiable by the large statue of Charles I in the distance—a central staging post for coaches. Before the ubiquitous tavern is an inebriated Freemason identifiable as Sir Thomas de Veil, a magistrate extremely unpopular for his strict enforcing of the Gin Act. Supported by his servant, he is oblivious as waste tossed from an upper window descends on his head. Meanwhile the Salisbury Flying Coach is hardly flying. Not only has it been overturned, but the bonfire is about to ignite it and a stray firework enters the carriage window.
Gallery Rotation Winter 2011
William Hogarth
England, 1697–1764
The Four Times of Day: Night
1738
Etching and engraving
Museum purchase, 1971/2.59
This image of nocturnal mishap is set near Charring Cross—identifiable by the large statue of Charles I in the distance—a central staging post for coaches. Before the ubiquitous tavern is an inebriated Freemason identifiable as Sir Thomas de Veil, a magistrate extremely unpopular for his strict enforcing of the Gin Act. Supported by his servant, he is oblivious as waste tossed from an upper window descends on his head. Meanwhile the Salisbury Flying Coach is hardly flying. Not only has it been overturned, but the bonfire is about to ignite it and a stray firework enters the carriage window.
Subject matter
Hogarth created several print series that satirize mores and values of 18th century England. In his suite, "The Four Times of Day," executed after a series of paintings, he employed humor, not just to comment on London society but to breathe new life into images marking the times of day. Hogarth translated portrayals of the times of the day from their pastoral origins to that of contemporary London. The pastoral, eternal and ideal here become urban, specific and comic. Each of the London sites shown in this series was considered disreputable in its day and the congested setting acts as a foil and context for the figures.
An image of nocturnal mishap, "Night" is set near Charring Cross and shows, along with the ubiquitous tavern, an inebriated Freemason identified as Sir Thomas De Veil. De Veil, a magistrate known for his harsh treatment for drunkenness is supported by his servant as slops tossed from an upper window descends on the pair. More mayhem is represented by the overturned “Flying Salisbury Coach”—hardly flying as it catches fire, most likely from the torch held by the boy at the far left.
Physical Description
This print is vertically oriented with gray markings. A cream border surrounds it and it has “NIGHT” written below it. The lower half of the print has a busy street scene with lots of people taking parts of several stories (e.g. someone empting a chamber pot on people on the street, a tipped over carriage that is being set on fire, a quack doctor performing an operation in a candlelit room). The upper half of the print shows the tops of the buildings that line the street, iron-wrought shop signs, a statue of a man on horseback in the distance, and a crescent moon in a cloudy sky.
Primary Object Classification
Primary Object Type
intaglio print
Additional Object Classification(s)
Collection Area
Western
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
William Hogarth
The Four Times of Day: Night
etching and engraving on laid paper
18 3/16 in x 16 in (46.2 cm x 40.64 cm);28 1/16 in x 22 1/16 in (71.28 cm x 56.04 cm);23 ⅛ in x 18 ¼ in (58.74 cm x 46.36 cm);17 7/16 in x 14 ⅜ in (44.29 cm x 36.51 cm);18 3/16 in x 16 in (46.2 cm x 40.64 cm)
Museum Purchase
The Four Times of Day: Night
etching and engraving on laid paper
18 3/16 in x 16 in (46.2 cm x 40.64 cm);28 1/16 in x 22 1/16 in (71.28 cm x 56.04 cm);23 ⅛ in x 18 ¼ in (58.74 cm x 46.36 cm);17 7/16 in x 14 ⅜ in (44.29 cm x 36.51 cm);18 3/16 in x 16 in (46.2 cm x 40.64 cm)
Museum Purchase
Accession Number
1971/2.58
Title
The Four Times of Day: Evening
Artist(s)
William Hogarth
Object Creation Date
1738
Medium & Support
etching and engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
18 1/4 in. x 15 7/8 in. ( 46.4 cm x 40.3 cm )
Credit Line
Museum Purchase
Label copy
*Gallery Rotation Winter 2011 (January 2011)
[Hogarth intro label]
Hogarth created several series of images, such as The Rake’s Progress and Marriage à la Mode, satirizing the mores and values of eighteenth-century England. In The Four Times of Day—a series of prints made after his paintings and intended for a wider audience—Hogarth employed humor both to comment on contemporary society and to breathe new life into the genre of images that marks the progression of time by depicting the seasons, the stages of life, or the times of day.
Turning a long tradition on its head, Hogarth’s portrayals of the times of day (morning, noon, evening, and night) are situated in specific locations in contemporary London rather than an in idealized classical past. Each of the sites he chose was considered disreputable in its day and the congested settings act as foils and contexts for the figures. In this way the pastoral, eternal, and ideal images of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses so often encountered in traditional paintings in this genre become urban, specific, and comic. In addition to creating a specifically English kind of imagery, Hogarth disrupts the tradition linking the times of day with particular seasons, i.e. morning with spring, midday with summer, evening with fall, and night with winter. Instead his cycle begins with winter, which he links to morning, and ends with autumn, which he links to night.
Gallery Rotation Winter 2011
William Hogarth
England, 1697–1764
The Four Times of Day: Evening
1738
Etching and engraving
Museum purchase, 1971/2.58
Evening shows a young dyer’s family escaping the summer heat in the city to enjoy the lush middle-class resort of Sadler’s Wells on the outskirts of London, a location famous for its waters and theaters; once exclusive, by the eighteenth century it was considered “a nursery of debauchery.” The couple stroll past a tavern and a cow being milked, suggesting the evening hour. The placement of the cow’s horns behind the husband’s head indicates that his wife has been unfaithful to him—a notion that was traditionally expressed in European art and literature by the wearing of horns. The children behind the couple replay the scene as a girl demands a smaller boy’s cookie.
Subject matter
Hogarth created several print series that satirize mores and values of 18th century England. In his suite, "The Four Times of Day," executed after a series of paintings, he employed humor, not just to comment on London society but to breathe new life into images marking the times of day. Hogarth translated portrayals of the times of the day from their pastoral origins to that of contemporary London. The pastoral, eternal and ideal here become urban, specific and comic. Each of the London sites shown in this series was considered disreputable in its day and the congested setting acts as a foil and context for the figures.
Set in a lush summer setting, "Evening," shows a young dyer’s family escaping the heat of the city to enjoy the middle class resort of Sadler’s Wells. The dyer accompanies his formidable wife as they stroll past a tavern and a cow being milked. The placement of the cow’s horns behind the husband’s head indicates that he is a cuckold; the pair of children on the left of the composition underscores the unfortunate situation of the male, in each instance dominated by a larger female.
Physical Description
This print is vertically oriented with gray markings. A cream border surrounds it and it has “EVENING” written below it. The lower half of the print has a pastoral scene with several adults and children by a stream at the bottom of the print. Behind them, someone milks a cow. The upper half shows the tops of buildings and rolling hills. A sunset is taking place with dramatic clouds.
Primary Object Classification
Print
Primary Object Type
intaglio print
Additional Object Classification(s)
Print
Collection Area
Western
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
1971/2.58
Title
The Four Times of Day: Evening
Artist(s)
William Hogarth
Object Creation Date
1738
Medium & Support
etching and engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
18 1/4 in. x 15 7/8 in. ( 46.4 cm x 40.3 cm )
Credit Line
Museum Purchase
Label copy
*Gallery Rotation Winter 2011 (January 2011)
[Hogarth intro label]
Hogarth created several series of images, such as The Rake’s Progress and Marriage à la Mode, satirizing the mores and values of eighteenth-century England. In The Four Times of Day—a series of prints made after his paintings and intended for a wider audience—Hogarth employed humor both to comment on contemporary society and to breathe new life into the genre of images that marks the progression of time by depicting the seasons, the stages of life, or the times of day.
Turning a long tradition on its head, Hogarth’s portrayals of the times of day (morning, noon, evening, and night) are situated in specific locations in contemporary London rather than an in idealized classical past. Each of the sites he chose was considered disreputable in its day and the congested settings act as foils and contexts for the figures. In this way the pastoral, eternal, and ideal images of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses so often encountered in traditional paintings in this genre become urban, specific, and comic. In addition to creating a specifically English kind of imagery, Hogarth disrupts the tradition linking the times of day with particular seasons, i.e. morning with spring, midday with summer, evening with fall, and night with winter. Instead his cycle begins with winter, which he links to morning, and ends with autumn, which he links to night.
Gallery Rotation Winter 2011
William Hogarth
England, 1697–1764
The Four Times of Day: Evening
1738
Etching and engraving
Museum purchase, 1971/2.58
Evening shows a young dyer’s family escaping the summer heat in the city to enjoy the lush middle-class resort of Sadler’s Wells on the outskirts of London, a location famous for its waters and theaters; once exclusive, by the eighteenth century it was considered “a nursery of debauchery.” The couple stroll past a tavern and a cow being milked, suggesting the evening hour. The placement of the cow’s horns behind the husband’s head indicates that his wife has been unfaithful to him—a notion that was traditionally expressed in European art and literature by the wearing of horns. The children behind the couple replay the scene as a girl demands a smaller boy’s cookie.
Subject matter
Hogarth created several print series that satirize mores and values of 18th century England. In his suite, "The Four Times of Day," executed after a series of paintings, he employed humor, not just to comment on London society but to breathe new life into images marking the times of day. Hogarth translated portrayals of the times of the day from their pastoral origins to that of contemporary London. The pastoral, eternal and ideal here become urban, specific and comic. Each of the London sites shown in this series was considered disreputable in its day and the congested setting acts as a foil and context for the figures.
Set in a lush summer setting, "Evening," shows a young dyer’s family escaping the heat of the city to enjoy the middle class resort of Sadler’s Wells. The dyer accompanies his formidable wife as they stroll past a tavern and a cow being milked. The placement of the cow’s horns behind the husband’s head indicates that he is a cuckold; the pair of children on the left of the composition underscores the unfortunate situation of the male, in each instance dominated by a larger female.
Physical Description
This print is vertically oriented with gray markings. A cream border surrounds it and it has “EVENING” written below it. The lower half of the print has a pastoral scene with several adults and children by a stream at the bottom of the print. Behind them, someone milks a cow. The upper half shows the tops of buildings and rolling hills. A sunset is taking place with dramatic clouds.
Primary Object Classification
Primary Object Type
intaglio print
Additional Object Classification(s)
Collection Area
Western
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
William Hogarth
The Four Times of Day: Evening
etching and engraving on laid paper
18 1/4 in. x 15 7/8 in. ( 46.4 cm x 40.3 cm )
Museum Purchase
The Four Times of Day: Evening
etching and engraving on laid paper
18 1/4 in. x 15 7/8 in. ( 46.4 cm x 40.3 cm )
Museum Purchase
Accession Number
1971/2.57
Title
The Four Times of Day: Noon
Artist(s)
William Hogarth
Object Creation Date
1738
Medium & Support
etching and engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
18 3/16 in. x 15 15/16 in. ( 46.2 cm x 40.5 cm )
Credit Line
Museum Purchase
Label copy
*Gallery Rotation Winter 2011 (January 2011)
[Hogarth intro label]
Hogarth created several series of images, such as The Rake’s Progress and Marriage à la Mode, satirizing the mores and values of eighteenth-century England. In The Four Times of Day—a series of prints made after his paintings and intended for a wider audience—Hogarth employed humor both to comment on contemporary society and to breathe new life into the genre of images that marks the progression of time by depicting the seasons, the stages of life, or the times of day.
Turning a long tradition on its head, Hogarth’s portrayals of the times of day (morning, noon, evening, and night) are situated in specific locations in contemporary London rather than an in idealized classical past. Each of the sites he chose was considered disreputable in its day and the congested settings act as foils and contexts for the figures. In this way the pastoral, eternal, and ideal images of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses so often encountered in traditional paintings in this genre become urban, specific, and comic. In addition to creating a specifically English kind of imagery, Hogarth disrupts the tradition linking the times of day with particular seasons, i.e. morning with spring, midday with summer, evening with fall, and night with winter. Instead his cycle begins with winter, which he links to morning, and ends with autumn, which he links to night.
William Hogarth
England, 1697–1764
The Four Times of Day: Noon
1738
Etching and engraving
Museum purchase, 1971/2.57
Noon, set on Hog Road (now part of Charing Cross Road) in springtime, shows two groups of people divided by a gutter running down the center of the street. This part of the area known as Soho was famous for its prostitutes, music halls, and theatres, and for its many French immigrants. The finely attired, almost foppish, figures to the left are often described as French refugees; they contrast with the lusty pair of Londoners with squalling children at their feet. The spire of St. Giles in the distance is cut off in the middle ground by two taverns, identifiable by the flagons hanging under the roofs.
William Hogarth
England, 1697–1764
The Four Times of Day: Noon
1738
Etching and engraving
Museum purchase, 1971/2.57
Noon, set on Hog Road (now part of Charing Cross Road) in springtime, shows two groups of people divided by a gutter running down the center of the street. This part of the area known as Soho was famous for its prostitutes, music halls, and theatres, and for its many French immigrants. The finely attired, almost foppish, figures to the left are often described as French refugees; they contrast with the lusty pair of Londoners with squalling children at their feet. The spire of St. Giles in the distance is cut off in the middle ground by two taverns, identifiable by the flagons hanging under the roofs.
Subject matter
Hogarth created several print series that satirize mores and values of 18th century England. In his suite, "The Four Times of Day," executed after a series of paintings, he employed humor, not just to comment on London society but to breathe new life into images marking the times of day. Hogarth translated portrayals of the times of the day from their pastoral origins to that of contemporary London. The pastoral, eternal and ideal here become urban, specific and comic. Each of the London sites shown in this series was considered disreputable in its day and the congested setting acts as a foil and context for the figures.
"Noon", set on Hog Road (now part of Charing Cross Road) in springtime, shows two groups of people divided by a gutter than runs down the center of the road. The group of finely attired, almost foppish, figures at the right is often described as French refugees as this part of Soho included a sizeable French population. In contrast is the lusty pair of Londoners at the left. The spire of St. Gilles in the distance is cut off by two taverns in the middle ground, identified by the flagons hanging under the roofs.
Physical Description
This print is vertically oriented with gray markings. A cream border surrounds it and it has “NOON” written below it. The lower half of the print has a busy street scene with lots of adults and children in 18th century garb. The upper half shows the top of the buildings that line the street, including a shop, a brick building, and a church steeple in the distance.
Primary Object Classification
Print
Primary Object Type
intaglio print
Additional Object Classification(s)
Print
Collection Area
Western
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
1971/2.57
Title
The Four Times of Day: Noon
Artist(s)
William Hogarth
Object Creation Date
1738
Medium & Support
etching and engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
18 3/16 in. x 15 15/16 in. ( 46.2 cm x 40.5 cm )
Credit Line
Museum Purchase
Label copy
*Gallery Rotation Winter 2011 (January 2011)
[Hogarth intro label]
Hogarth created several series of images, such as The Rake’s Progress and Marriage à la Mode, satirizing the mores and values of eighteenth-century England. In The Four Times of Day—a series of prints made after his paintings and intended for a wider audience—Hogarth employed humor both to comment on contemporary society and to breathe new life into the genre of images that marks the progression of time by depicting the seasons, the stages of life, or the times of day.
Turning a long tradition on its head, Hogarth’s portrayals of the times of day (morning, noon, evening, and night) are situated in specific locations in contemporary London rather than an in idealized classical past. Each of the sites he chose was considered disreputable in its day and the congested settings act as foils and contexts for the figures. In this way the pastoral, eternal, and ideal images of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses so often encountered in traditional paintings in this genre become urban, specific, and comic. In addition to creating a specifically English kind of imagery, Hogarth disrupts the tradition linking the times of day with particular seasons, i.e. morning with spring, midday with summer, evening with fall, and night with winter. Instead his cycle begins with winter, which he links to morning, and ends with autumn, which he links to night.
William Hogarth
England, 1697–1764
The Four Times of Day: Noon
1738
Etching and engraving
Museum purchase, 1971/2.57
Noon, set on Hog Road (now part of Charing Cross Road) in springtime, shows two groups of people divided by a gutter running down the center of the street. This part of the area known as Soho was famous for its prostitutes, music halls, and theatres, and for its many French immigrants. The finely attired, almost foppish, figures to the left are often described as French refugees; they contrast with the lusty pair of Londoners with squalling children at their feet. The spire of St. Giles in the distance is cut off in the middle ground by two taverns, identifiable by the flagons hanging under the roofs.
William Hogarth
England, 1697–1764
The Four Times of Day: Noon
1738
Etching and engraving
Museum purchase, 1971/2.57
Noon, set on Hog Road (now part of Charing Cross Road) in springtime, shows two groups of people divided by a gutter running down the center of the street. This part of the area known as Soho was famous for its prostitutes, music halls, and theatres, and for its many French immigrants. The finely attired, almost foppish, figures to the left are often described as French refugees; they contrast with the lusty pair of Londoners with squalling children at their feet. The spire of St. Giles in the distance is cut off in the middle ground by two taverns, identifiable by the flagons hanging under the roofs.
Subject matter
Hogarth created several print series that satirize mores and values of 18th century England. In his suite, "The Four Times of Day," executed after a series of paintings, he employed humor, not just to comment on London society but to breathe new life into images marking the times of day. Hogarth translated portrayals of the times of the day from their pastoral origins to that of contemporary London. The pastoral, eternal and ideal here become urban, specific and comic. Each of the London sites shown in this series was considered disreputable in its day and the congested setting acts as a foil and context for the figures.
"Noon", set on Hog Road (now part of Charing Cross Road) in springtime, shows two groups of people divided by a gutter than runs down the center of the road. The group of finely attired, almost foppish, figures at the right is often described as French refugees as this part of Soho included a sizeable French population. In contrast is the lusty pair of Londoners at the left. The spire of St. Gilles in the distance is cut off by two taverns in the middle ground, identified by the flagons hanging under the roofs.
Physical Description
This print is vertically oriented with gray markings. A cream border surrounds it and it has “NOON” written below it. The lower half of the print has a busy street scene with lots of adults and children in 18th century garb. The upper half shows the top of the buildings that line the street, including a shop, a brick building, and a church steeple in the distance.
Primary Object Classification
Primary Object Type
intaglio print
Additional Object Classification(s)
Collection Area
Western
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
William Hogarth
The Four Times of Day: Noon
etching and engraving on laid paper
18 3/16 in. x 15 15/16 in. ( 46.2 cm x 40.5 cm )
Museum Purchase
The Four Times of Day: Noon
etching and engraving on laid paper
18 3/16 in. x 15 15/16 in. ( 46.2 cm x 40.5 cm )
Museum Purchase
Exhibition Support
Lead support for this exhibition is provided by the University of Michigan Office of the Provost, Erica Gervais Pappendick and Ted Pappendick, the Eleanor Noyes Crumpacker Endowment Fund, and P.J. and Julie Solit.