Yale Center for British Art

Creator:
William Hogarth, 1697–1764, British
Title:
The First Stage of Cruelty
Date:
ca. 1750
Materials & Techniques:
Graphite and red chalk on medium, slightly textured, cream laid paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 15 1/2 x 13 1/8 inches (39.4 x 33.3 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
(Pro Patria) (?)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1975.4.1543
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
genre subject | shoes (footwear) | coats | hats | lamps (lighting devices) | puppets | artillery | men | buildings | windows | bone | dogs (animals) | cats (domestic cats) | gibbets
Currently On View:
Not on view
Exhibition History:
William Hogarth: Cruelty and Humor (The Morgan Library & Museum, 2019-05-24 - 2019-09-22)

Paul Mellon's Legacy : A Passion for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2007-04-18 - 2007-07-29)

The Line of Beauty : British Drawings and Watercolors of the Eighteenth Century (Yale Center for British Art, 2001-05-19 - 2001-08-05)

William Hogarth (1697-1764) (Fondazione Giorgio Cini, 1989-08-26 - 1989-11-12)

The Creative Printmaker (Yale Center for British Art, 1985-07-09 - 1985-09-01)

The Creative Printmaker (Joseph and Margaret Muscarelle Museum of Art, 1986-03-05 - 1986-04-20)

English Drawings and Watercolors from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon (Yale University Art Gallery, 1965-04-15 - 1965-06-20)
Publications:
A loan exhibition of English drawings and watercolours from the collection of Mr and Mrs Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia, P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London, 1964, no. 4, N5247.M385 L62 (YCBA)

English drawings and watercolors, from the collection of Mr and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, April 15 - June 20 1965, p. 14, no. 4, NC228 Y34 (YCBA)

William Rummel Francis, William Hogarth : A Loan Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Prints at the Virginia Museum, , Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA., January 30-March 5, 1967, p. 31, no. 39, NJ18 H67 +F72 1967 Oversize (YCBA)

Adolf Paul Oppé, The drawings of William Hogarth, Phaidon, London, 1948, pp. 18, 47, 67, no. 70, NJ18 H67 O66 (YCBA)

Painting in England 1700-1850 : collection of Mr. & Mrs. Paul Mellon : Exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, , , Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, 1963, v.1: p. 203, no. 392, ND466 V57 v.1-2 (YCBA)

Paul Mellon's Legacy : a passion for British art [large print labels], , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2007, N5220 M552 P381 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA)

Ronald Paulson, Hogarth's graphic works / compiled and with a commentary by Ronald Paulson, Print Room, London, p. 149, no. 187, NJ18 H67 P38 1989 Oversize (YCBA)

Laurel Peterson, Hogarth and the making of the Four Stages of Cruelty, Master Drawings, vol. 62, Spring 2024, pp. 33-35, 40, fig. 21, NC1 .M37 (YCBA)

Pierpont Morgan Library, Hogarth : Cruelty and Humor, Accessed May 5, 2023, https://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/hogarth

The Creative Printmaker, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut, no. 14, NE628 C74 (YCBA)

Scott Wilcox, Line of beauty : British drawings and watercolors of the eighteenth century, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2001, pp. 174-175, no. 148, NC228 W53 2001 (YCBA)

William Hogarth : dipinti, disegni, incisioni : 26 Agosto-12 Novembre, 1989., , 6, Neri Pozza, Vincenza, Italy, 26 August- 12 November, p. 57, no. 89, NJ18 H67 W55 1989 + (YCBA)

Yale Center for British Art, Selected paintings, drawings & books, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 1977, p. 52, N590.2 A82 (YCBA)

Yale University Art Gallery, English drawings and watercolors from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, April 15-June 20,1965, , New Haven, 1965, no. 4, NC228 Y34 (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
At St. Giles parish in London, we find that Tom Nero (wearing a hat, in the center of the design) has already begun his downward descent by joining others in torturing innocent animals. But where are the parish officers to restrain and correct Tom and his companions, and provide them with useful employment? Gallery label for Connections (Yale Center for British Art, 2011-05-26 - 2011-09-11)
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:10003