'''William Hogarth''' (1697 – 1764) was one of the greatest innovators in [[English]] art. He was a professional rebel. He found English art sycophantic, and determined to make it independent. Instead of working for a few rich patrons, he evolved the idea of making his living out of popular engravings of his pictures. He believed that the lack of a native [[Painting SchoolSchools|school of painting]] was largely due to the fashions imposed on a credulous public by connoisseurs and critics and he waged continual war on taste and the Old Masters.
<br>