|
A Harlot's Progress
''A Harlot's Progress'' (also known as ''The Harlot's Progress'') is a series of six paintings (1731, now destroyed) and engravings (1732) by the English artist William Hogarth. The series shows the story of a young woman, M. (Moll or Mary) Hackabout, who arrives in London from the country and becomes a prostitute. The series was developed from the third image. After painting a prostitute in her boudoir in a garret on Drury Lane, Hogarth struck upon the idea of creating scenes from her earlier and later life. The title and allegory are reminiscent of John Bunyan's ''Pilgrim's Progress''. In the first scene, an old woman praises her beauty and suggests a profitable occupation. A gentleman is shown towards the back of the image. In the second image she is with two lovers: a mistress, in the third she has become a prostitute as well as arrested, she is beating hemp in Bridewell Prison in the fourth. In the fifth scene she is dying from venereal disease, and she is dead at age 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Hogarth
William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects", and he is perhaps best known for his series ''A Harlot's Progress'', ''A Rake's Progress'' and '' Marriage A-la-Mode''. Knowledge of his work is so pervasive that satirical political illustrations in this style are often referred to as "Hogarthian". Hogarth was born in London to a lower-middle-class family. In his youth he took up an apprenticeship with an engraver, but did not complete the apprenticeship. His father underwent periods of mixed fortune, and was at one time imprisoned in lieu of outstanding debts, an event that is thought to have informed William's paintings and prints with a hard edge. Influenced by French and Italian painting and engraving, Hogarth's works are mostly sat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guinea (British Coin)
The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where much of the gold used to make the coins was sourced. It was the first English machine-struck gold coin, originally representing a value of 20 shillings in sterling specie, equal to one pound, but rises in the price of gold relative to silver caused the value of the guinea to increase, at times to as high as thirty shillings. From 1717 to 1816, its value was officially fixed at twenty-one shillings. In the Great Recoinage of 1816, the guinea was demonetised and the word "guinea" became a colloquial or specialised term. Although the coin itself no longer circulated, the term ''guinea'' survived as a unit of account in some fields. Notable usages included professional fees (medical, legal, etc.), which were often invoiced in guineas, and h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Harlot's Progress (opera)
''A Harlot's Progress'' is an opera in six scenes by the British composer Iain Bell which is based on William Hogarth's A Harlot's Progress, series of etchings of the same name. The libretto is by British author Peter Ackroyd. The story concerns a country girl, who comes to the big city and becomes mistress of an old, rich man. Thrown out by him because of her taking of younger lovers, she becomes diseased and mad and eventually dies in misery.Persché G. Reviews from Vienna. ''Opera (British magazine), Opera'', January 2014, p36. The opera premiered at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 13 October 2013 with coloratura soprano Diana Damrau in the lead role of Moll Hackabout conducted by Mikko Franck in a production by Jens-Daniel Herzog. Additional cast members included Nathan Gunn, Marie McLaughlin, Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught, English tenor Christopher Gillett and French bass-baritone Nicolas Testé, with the Arnold Schoenberg Choir as the chorus, and the Vienna Symphony ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diana Damrau
Diana Damrau (; born 31 May 1971) is a German soprano who achieved international fame for her performances, primarily in opera, but also in concert and lieder. She has been successful in coloratura soprano roles since her early career, and gradually proceeded into heavier roles 19th-century Italian bel canto repertoire. Her signature roles include the Queen of the Night in ''The Magic Flute'', Zerbinetta in ''Ariadne auf Naxos'', Lucia in ''Lucia di Lammermoor'', and Violetta in ''La traviata''. Educated at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg, she had been engaged at the opera companies in Würzburg, Mannheim, and Frankfurt. Since beginning her freelance career in 2002, she has been performing on leading stages frequently, such as the Bavarian State Opera, Vienna State Opera, and Metropolitan Opera, where she appeared in consecutive 12 seasons since her debut in 2005/06. She also leads concert performances with French bass-baritone Nicholas Testé, whom she married in 2010. Damr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theater An Der Wien
The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served primarily as an opera house, hosting its own company. Although "" is German for "Vienna", the "" in the name of the theatre is actually the name of the Wien River, which once flowed by the theatre site; "" means "on the banks of the Wien". In modern times, the river has been covered over in this location and the covered riverbed now houses the Naschmarkt, an open-air market. The theatre is operated in cooperation with Vereinigte Bühnen Wien (VBW) which also operates the Raimund Theater and the . History Early history The theatre was the brainchild of the Viennese theatrical impresario Emanuel Schikaneder, who is best known as Mozart's librettist and collaborator on the opera ''The Magic Flute'' (1791). Schikaneder's troupe had already ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iain Bell
Iain Bell (born 1980) is an English composer whose output is predominantly of vocal works, namely opera, art song or orchestral song. Life and career Bell was born in London. His first opera, ''A Harlot's Progress'', to a libretto by Peter Ackroyd, premiered on 13 October 2013 at the in Vienna, conducted by Mikko Franck and directed by Jens-Daniel Herzog. The cast included Marie McLaughlin as Mother Needham and Nathan Gunn as James Dalton. The lead role of Moll Hackabout was created by German coloratura soprano Diana Damrau for whom the composer has written a great deal of music. Bell's second opera is an adaptation of Charles Dickens's own one-man version of his novella ''A Christmas Carol'' commissioned by Houston Grand Opera where it received its world premiere in December 2014, directed by the British actor, director and writer Simon Callow, sung by the American tenor Jay Hunter Morris. The opera was subsequently nominated in the World Premiere category at the 2015 Internati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the northeast and Berkshire to the east. The county town was originally Wilton, after which the county is named, but Wiltshire Council is now based in the county town of Trowbridge. Within the county's boundary are two unitary authority areas, Wiltshire and Swindon, governed respectively by Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council. Wiltshire is characterised by its high downland and wide valleys. Salisbury Plain is noted for being the location of the Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles (which together are a UNESCO Cultural and World Heritage site) and other ancient landmarks, and as a training area for the British Army. The city of Salisbury is notable for its medieval cathedral. Swindon is the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fonthill Abbey
Fonthill Abbey—also known as Beckford's Folly—was a large Gothic Revival country house built between 1796 and 1813 at Fonthill Gifford in Wiltshire, England, at the direction of William Thomas Beckford and architect James Wyatt. It was built near the site of the Palladian house, later known as Fonthill Splendens, which had been constructed by 1770 by his father William Beckford. This, in turn, had replaced the Elizabethan house that Beckford The Elder had purchased in 1744 and which had been destroyed by fire in 1755. The abbey's main tower collapsed several times, lastly in 1825 damaging the western wing. The entire abbey was later almost completely demolished. History Fonthill Abbey was the brainchild of William Thomas Beckford, son of wealthy English plantation owner William Beckford and a student of architect Sir William Chambers, as well as of James Wyatt, architect of the project. In 1771, when Beckford was ten years old, he inherited £1 million () and an incom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Thomas Beckford
William Thomas Beckford (29 September 1760 – 2 May 1844) was an English novelist, art collector, patron of decorative art, critic, travel writer, plantation owner and for some time politician. He was reputed at one stage to be England's richest commoner. The son of William Beckford (politician), William Beckford and Maria Hamilton, daughter of the Hon. George Hamilton (died 1775), George Hamilton, he served as a Member of Parliament for Wells (UK Parliament constituency), Wells in 1784–1790 and Hindon (UK Parliament constituency), Hindon in 1790–1795 and 1806–1820. Beckford is remembered for a Gothic novel ''Vathek'' (1786), for building the lost Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire and Lansdown Tower ("Beckford's Tower") in Bath, and for his art collection. Biography Beckford was born in the family's London home at 22 Soho Square on 29 September 1760. At the age of ten, he inherited a fortune from his father William Beckford (politician), William Beckford, who had been twice a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Beckford (politician)
William Beckford (baptised 19 December 1709 – 21 June 1770) was a well-known political figure in 18th-century London, who twice held the office of Lord Mayor of London (1762 and 1769). His vast wealth came largely from his plantations in Jamaica and the large numbers of enslaved Africans working for him and his family. He was, and is, often referred to as Alderman Beckford to distinguish him from his son William Thomas Beckford, author and art collector, and from his nephew William Beckford of Somerley (1744–1799), author and planter. He was a supporter of liberty at home and championed the citizens of London upon being summoned to King George III with the City Remonstrance in 1770. Early life In 1709, William was born in the colony of Jamaica, the son of Peter Beckford, Speaker of the House of Assembly there, and the grandson of Colonel Peter Beckford, sometime Governor of the colony. He was sent to England by his family in 1723 to be educated. He studied at Westm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marriage à-la-mode (Hogarth)
''Marriage A-la-Mode'' is a series of six pictures painted by William Hogarth between 1743 and 1745, intended as a pointed skewering of 18th-century society. They show the disastrous results of an ill-considered marriage for money or social status, and satirize patronage and aesthetics. The pictures are held in the National Gallery in London. This series was not received as well as his other moral tales, ''A Harlot's Progress'' (1732) and ''A Rake's Progress'' (1735), and when the paintings were finally sold in 1751, it was for a much lower sum than the artist had hoped for. Overview In ''Marriage A-la-Mode'' Hogarth challenges the traditional view that the nobility and the rich live virtuous lives, and satirises arranged marriages. In each piece, he shows the young couple and their family and acquaintances at their worst: engaging in affairs, drinking, gambling, and numerous other vices. This is regarded by some as his finest project, and the best example of his serially-plann ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
