Thursday, 14 November 2019
Soane Lecture Series Part 2
Philosophy of Aesthetics, a talk by Mark Foster Gage
The Grolier Club, 47 E 60th Street, New York City
Doors open at 6pm, lecture begins at 6:30pm

William Hogarth’s The Analysis of Beauty (1753) is an innovative treatise on aesthetics, beauty and life. Central to Hogarth’s argument is the idea of the “line of beauty”. To Hogarth, the perfect form is the serpentine line which “by its waving and winding at the same time different ways, leads the eye in a pleasing manner along the continuity of its variety.” For Hogarth, the creation of this line requires “the assistance of the imagination, or the help of a figure”, among other things.

Architect Mark Foster Gage will explore Hogarth’s “line of beauty” as it is pulled into the 21st century. Through a discussion of both his own design work and scholarly writings Gage will make the case for a reignited understanding of aesthetics―one that casts aesthetics not as illusory, subjective, or superficial, but as a more encompassing framework for human activity.