George Stubbs (1724-1806), now recognized as one of the greatest and most original artists of the eighteenth century, stands out from other practitioners in the field of animal painting. His most frequent commissions were for paintings of horses, dogs, and wild animals, and his images invariably arrest attention and frequently strike a deeply poetic note. Stubbs did not emerge as a painter until he was in his mid-thirties, but then his genius flowered astonishingly. He steadily celebrates English sporting and country life and reveals himself-in his "incidental" portraits of jockeys and grooms, for example-as a perceptive observer of different levels of social behavior. Among his many experiments with technique were his chemical experiments with painting in enamels, first on copper and later on earthenware "tablets," manufactured for him in Wedgwood's potteries. This is the first full catalogue of Stubbs's paintings and drawings. Along with the full catalogue entries, the book offers a lengthy study of Stubbs's art and career. Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

The National Gallery's collection of British paintings is small, but contains some of the most famous and best-loved paintings in the country. This readable catalogue includes the results of fresh examination of each work by the Gallery's Conservation and Scientific Departments.

Directing his pointed wit at the upper echelons of 18th-century British society, William Hogarth, a painter, printmaker, and social critic, mocked the politics and customs of his day. His series of satirical paintings and engravings, which still absorb viewers after nearly three centuries, record human vice and folly with a sharp eye and cutting intelligence. This compelling book, with an accompanying DVD narrated by Alan Bennett, examines Hogarth's best-known series of paintings, Marriage A-la-Mode, and unlocks many mysteries that have surrounded this gripping artistic commentary. Marriage A-la-Mode recounts the story of a marriage arranged between the son of a spendthrift nobleman who needs cash and the daughter of a rich City of London merchant who hopes to buy social status. Love never develops, and the discordant lives of the bride and bridegroom descend into adultery and venereal disease followed by murder, execution, and suicide. Judy Egerton deciphers the visual cues and symbols Hogarth employs in his comic story of doubtful morals. Published by National Gallery Company / Distributed by Yale University Press