The Four Times of Day: Morning

The Four Times of Day: Morning by William Hogarth, created in 1738, is a highly influential example of English graphic satire and a foundational piece in the artist’s celebrated series examining the social hierarchy and moral excesses of 18th-century London. This detailed engraving, which forms the first part of a sequence chronicling the routine hours of the day, showcases Hogarth’s sophisticated command of the printmaking medium and his keen observational skills.

Hogarth sets the scene near Covent Garden, portraying the harsh realities of dawn in the bustling metropolis. The composition contrasts various social types: a rigidly dressed, elderly spinster heads toward church, serving as a moral center against the chaotic backdrop of the emerging street life. Surrounding her are figures returning from late-night revelry, signs of poverty, and structures crumbling from neglect, highlighting the era's widespread social decay. Hogarth uses sequential narratives like this to critique hypocrisy, fashion, and morality within the United Kingdom.

As an essential example of British visual satire, the prints comprising the series gained immediate notoriety and popularity upon their release. The immediate distribution and accessibility of these original prints allowed Hogarth’s complex social commentary to reach a wide audience. Today, high-quality prints and reproductions of these important public domain works allow continued access to the artist’s narrative genius. This impression of the original 1738 engraving, which epitomizes Hogarth’s sharp cultural observation, is held in the prestigious collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.