Fancy a Pint?

I survived another Tuesday- my longest day of the week. A full day of lectures on emerging art markets- today was trends in the Arab and Iranian market since 1998- a seminar with presentations on individual artist valuations, a lecture on estimating for the modern market, and an evening of British Gothic architecture; I could sure use a cold one.  Funny that in the last 15 minutes of my Architecture lecture (yes, this is the EXTRA class that I signed up for), he showed these two Hogarth prints: "Gin Lane" and "Beer Street", published London 1751.
As a commentary on the "evils" of gin drinking and the "benefits" of beer drinking, it coincides with The Sale of Spirits Act (or Gin Act) of 1751. "Gin Lane" depicts the debauchery which was associated with the the availability of cheap gin. As pointed out by our esteemed lecturer Harry Mount (he is the primary reason that I am taking the class), the architecture depicted within the first print includes views of the slums of  St. Giles in the Fields, with Hawksmoor's St. George's Church (Bloomsbury) in the distance. In the second print, the benefits of drinking beer, rather than gin, are apparent in the health and well being of the Londoners depicted. And in the background, a new public house is under construction.  By 1830, the Beer Act further relaxed the laws around beer sales and led to the mass building of Beer Houses throughout London, especially as part of terrace house developments. Within the first year over 400 Beer Houses were built across England; over 40,000 within eight years.  

There are actually a lot of things to be discovered in these prints. So pour yourself a pint and have a look!