What influenced William Hogarth's art style?

William Hogarth's art style was significantly influenced by Flemish and Dutch genre paintings. These works often depicted everyday life and were characterized by a focus on narrative and moral themes within mundane activities. Hogarth embraced this approach, using it as a foundation for his own distinctive style, which included a satirical and social commentary aspect that reflected the complexities of 18th-century British life.

His paintings often included detailed, comedic, and sometimes harsh portrayals of society, drawing from the stylistic elements and themes present in Flemish and Dutch works. The emphasis on storytelling through visual art in these genres resonated with Hogarth, and he effectively adapted this tradition to critique contemporary social issues and human behavior in England, setting his work apart within the context of art history.