Night

"Night," created by William Hogarth in 1738, is a celebrated etching and engraving that forms the concluding panel of the artist’s famous series, Four Times of Day. This print is a powerful example of British visual culture during the vital period between 1726 to 1750, when Hogarth established himself as the premier chronicler and satirist of London life. Utilizing the detailed precision of etching complemented by the tonal contrasts afforded by engraving, Hogarth captures a scene of spectacular disorder and moral lapse typical of the city’s nocturnal hours.

Hogarth designed the work as a pointed social critique, contrasting the relative stability of day with the chaos unleashed under the cover of darkness. The scene, often identified as the location of the notorious Charing Cross, is depicted immediately following a stagecoach crash. Details such as drunken revelers, brawling watchmen, and obscured architectural decay reflect the perceived moral collapse of urban society. The piece cleverly uses artificial light sources, such as lamps and lanterns, to illuminate fragmented acts of delinquency, drawing the viewer’s eye through the dense narrative structure of the composition.

As a printmaker, Hogarth ensured his detailed narrative compositions reached a broad audience. Unlike oil paintings, such works circulated widely as affordable prints, cementing the artist’s status as a master of popular satire. This enduring appeal ensured that scenes like Night remained widely influential, setting a precedent for graphic social commentary in the generations that followed. This particular impression of the work is held within the distinguished collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., confirming its importance in the history of British art. Today, high-resolution reproductions of this work are frequently available in the public domain, allowing continued study of Hogarth's intricate details and powerful historical commentary.