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Abstract

The introductory chapter explains the reasons behind isolating William Hogarth’s visual construct of the line of beauty as a means of demonstrating not only movement but movement at its most beautiful, to use as a mechanism by which artworks can be analysed. The reason why the artworks chosen relate to the years surrounding the First World War, particularly visual propaganda in the form of the pictorial poster and the aesthetic response from the trenches, is explained alongside the multiple connotations of what the line represents, including both literal and metaphoric manifestations of movement and why this is essential for any analysis of propaganda art

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Hogarth, W. (1997) The Analysis of Beauty edited by Paulson, R. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press p. 6.

  2. 2.

    Burke, J. (1955) Introduction IN: Hogarth, W. The Analysis of Beauty edited by Burke, J. Oxford: Clarendon Press xiii–lxii, p. xxxix.

  3. 3.

    Ibid. p. xxxix [originally taken from ‘The Autobiographical Notes, British Museum Additional MS 27,991’ (p. 210)].

  4. 4.

    Baudrillard, J. (1983) Simulations Trans: Foss, P. et al. Los Angeles: Semiotext[e] p. 19.

  5. 5.

    Weill, A. (1984) The Poster: A Worldwide Survey and History Trans: Myatt, M. London: Sotheby’s Publications p. 129.

  6. 6.

    Eksteins, M. (2000) Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age London: Papermac p. 211.

  7. 7.

    Jones, N. (2014) Peace and War: Britain in 1914 London: Head of Zeus Ltd. p. 178.

  8. 8.

    Ibid. p. 11.

  9. 9.

    Walsh, M.J.K. (2002) C.R.W. Nevinson: This Cult of Violence New Haven, CT: Yale University Press p. 93.

  10. 10.

    Wollaeger, M. (2008) Modernism, Media, and Propaganda: British Narrative from 1900–1945 Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press p. xi.

  11. 11.

    Hogarth, W. (1997) Op. Cit. p. 42.

  12. 12.

    Ellul, J. (1973) Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes Trans: Kellen, K. and Lerner, J. New York: Vintage Books p. 86.

  13. 13.

    Wollaeger, M. (2008) Op. Cit. p. xiv.

  14. 14.

    Ibid. p. 143.

  15. 15.

    Ibid. p. 143.

  16. 16.

    Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) edited by Webster, N. [online] Available from http://1913.mshaffer.com [accessed 28 January 2013].

  17. 17.

    Concise Oxford English Dictionary, Luxury Edition (2009) 11th Ed. Edited by Soanes, C. and Stevenson, A. Oxford: Oxford University Press p. 1150.

  18. 18.

    Moore, C. (2010) Propaganda Prints: A History of Art in the Service of Social and Political Change London: A&C Black Publishers Limited p. 7.

  19. 19.

    McLuhan, M. (1962) The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man London: Routledge & Kegan Paul p. 194.

  20. 20.

    Shesgreen, S. (Ed.) (1973) Engravings by Hogarth: 101 Prints New York: Dover Publications p. xiv.

  21. 21.

    Burke, J. (1955) Op. Cit. p. xvi.

  22. 22.

    Bryder, T. (2008) Conceptual Elements for a Theory of Visual Political Propaganda Psicología Política No 37, November 2008, 101–17 p. 101.

  23. 23.

    Ellul, J. (1973) Op. Cit. p. 49.

  24. 24.

    Ostrow, S. (2005) Rehearsing Revolution and Life: The Embodiment of Benjamin’s Artwork Essay at the End of the Age of Mechanical Reproduction IN: Benjamin, A. (Ed.) Walter Benjamin and Art London: Continuum 226–47 p. 226.

  25. 25.

    Clark, T. (1997) Art and Propaganda in the Twentieth Century: The Political Image in the Age of Mass Culture London: George Weidenfeld and Nicolson Ltd p. 7.

  26. 26.

    Bevan, S. (2015) Art from Contemporary Conflict London: IWM p. 3.

  27. 27.

    Ellul, J. (1973) Op. Cit. p. 9.

  28. 28.

    Le Bon, G. (2001) The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, Batoche Books [online] Available from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/soton/docDetail.action?docID=2004652 [accessed from 20 January 2013] p. 13.

  29. 29.

    Gombrich, E. H. (1977) Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation, 5th Ed., London: Phaidon Press p. 193.

  30. 30.

    Rainey, L. et al. (eds.) (2009) Futurism: An Anthology New Haven, CT: Yale University Press endnotes p. 526.

  31. 31.

    Poggi, C. (2009) Introduction to Part Two IN: Rainey, L. et al. (eds.) Futurism: An Anthology New Haven, CT: Yale University Press 305–30 p. 314.

  32. 32.

    Hogarth, W. (1997) Op. Cit. p. 42.

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Williams, G. (2016). An Introduction. In: Propaganda and Hogarth's Line of Beauty in the First World War. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57194-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57194-6_1

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