According to The J. Paul Getty Museum, Hogarth said about his work that he was, “painting and engraving modern moral subjects. . . . to treat my subjects as a dramatic writer; my picture is my stage.” The picture being his stage suggests that Hogarth’s intention was to tell a whole story in one image. But the combination of his paintings, Before and After, tell a better story than either could have on their own.
The Fitz Museum gives a good idea of what the two paintings might be about. Essentially, the Before painting was supposed to capture a sensual moment in a polite manner. There are suggestions of arousal without it being crude. After is supposed to expose the awkward emotions that occur after a couple has just been together.
The basic subjects in the two paintings are the same: a man and a woman, one seeming to whisper to the other; the woman wears a dress, the man wears ruffles; and one looks longingly towards the other whilst they look away. It’s the subtle details that change everything. The transition from Before to After tells the whole story of the in-between. The way the woman’s dress goes from perfect to lifted and disarrayed, the man suggests they move further and when it’s over he seems distant, they’ve changed positions, and there’s extra clothes on the ground—it’s an entirely different mood. The first is soft and suggestive, the second is a bit messy and distant.
The ability of small details to affect the senses is not only limited to paintings, but can be found as a device used in literature and poetry as well. One nineteenth century poet, Lord Alfred Tennyson was also really talented at changing the mood with small details. In his poem, Break, Break, Break, Tennyson subtly changes from being at a loss for words about the beauty of the waves breaking on the rocks to mourning the death of that beautiful day. The original scene seems sublime and beautiful. The second seems to leave that sublime moment in ruins. The following is this poem:
Break, Break, Break
By Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Break, break, break,
On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.
O, well for the fisherman’s boy,
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O, well for the sailor lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay!
And the stately ships go on
To their haven under the hill;
But O for the touch of a vanish’d hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still!
Break, break, break
At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.
Both works present the viewer/reader with the idea, that a moment is only that, a moment. It can be captured in perfection, for that single picture, but that does not mean it is how it always is. As seen in the paintings a romantic scene can suddenly became awkward, and as seen in the poem, a beautiful and serene scene can morph into something sad. They both reflect a simple truth of life, that life isn’t always beautiful or perfect, and the feeling of a moment cannot last forever.
Davidson Gallery. http://www.davidsongalleries.com/subjects/satire/heath_16866.jpg
Fitz Museum. http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/pharos/collection_pages/18th_pages/PD11_1964/TXT_SE-PD11_1964.html
J. Paul Getty Museum, The. http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=405&page=1
Poetry Foundation. (Tennyson Poem) http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174585
*Credit also due to Elyssa Reisman for a very helpful contribution of writing.
