William HogarthEnglish, 1697–1764The Laughing Audience
May one see it?
Unknown
Vienna, Austria
The owner is known; whether it is on view today is not.
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Particulars
In the catalog
Sources
- Albertina
- Image: Albertina — Public Domain Mark 1.0
Meanwhile, in the life of William Hogarth
The whole life1712–1764 · Workplace
London
1735
Founds the St Martin’s Lane Academy
In 1735 Hogarth founded the St Martin’s Lane Academy in London — in essence a drawing studio that grew out of a circle of painters, draughtsmen and engravers who met at Slaughter’s coffee house on St Martin’s Lane. It became a forerunner of the Royal Academy of Arts and spread new artistic ideas in England.
25 June 1735
“Hogarth’s Act”: copyright for engravings
When the success of the two series produced numerous pirated copies, Hogarth lobbied Parliament for a law protecting engravers: the Engravers’ Copyright Act, known as “Hogarth’s Act”, became law on 25 June 1735 — the first copyright law to cover visual works and to recognise the authorial rights of an individual artist.




