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"How I want thee, humorous Hogart": the motif of the absent artist in Swift, fielding and others.(Jonathan Swift, William Hogarth)

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From: Papers on Language & Literature
Date: 20060101
Author:Rogers, Pat

A familiar element in eighteenth-century writing, the motif of the absent artist seems to have escaped discussion, although it was widely employed, especially in the novel. In essence, it takes the form of a sudden appeal for the aid of a visual artist, who will assist the writer by conveying with a brush what cannot be conveyed by words. The precise direction of the trope varies: sometimes the artist is imagined to appear on cue, but more often writers use the mention of a painter to point up the absence of the desired figure within the text. In this sense, the device may be seen ...

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