Hogarth became famous only because of satirical scenes, but his works also have tragic notes. The artist had the gift to feel the mood of the public and chose the subjects that could excite her. And the public at all times was attracted by what is connected with the criminal world. And Hogarth wrote a number of paintings, capturing the famous criminals of the time.
The most famous is the picture “Sarah Malcolm”. This young Irish woman was sentenced to death for killing three people. The woman was considered one of the most cruel criminals. After her execution, the curious paid money to look at her corpse, taken from the gallows, in the morgue. Two days before Sarah’s death, Malcolm Hogarth and Thornhill visited her in the prison cell and made a portrait sketch. Later, Hogarth produced cheap, costing only six pence, an engraving depicting this woman, and kept the original until it was purchased by Oreis Walpole, the author of the very first horror novel.
Hogarth also successfully sold engravings with a portrait of Lord Lovat, who was chopped off after being accused of high treason. Well sold cheap engravings with portraits of criminals brought the artist over 300 pounds, that is, much more than he received for the picturesque paintings
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