ABSTRACT
This chapter examines William Hogarth's Analysis of beauty (1753), focusing on his depiction of hair as a prime example of his ‘lineal account of form’. Since each strand of hair already resembles a line, Hogarth considers it uniquely suited to illustrating how beauty emerges from the serpentine line, which is the most graceful line type in his system. In particular, flowing curls embody the principle of intricacy, guiding the viewer's eye through a playful, varied movement to produce visual pleasure. Hogarth's discussion of hair also reveals his preoccupation with the relationship between art and nature. By contrasting naturally flowing hairstyles with those that are artificially arranged, he transforms hair into a model for aesthetic judgement, in which beauty depends on moderation and the avoidance of excess. By situating the analysis of hair within broader reflections on proportion, variety and quantity, the chapter demonstrates how Hogarth's concept of the serpentine line connects artistic design with contemporary fashion and moral order. It concludes by tracing the influence of Hogarth's ideas on later eighteenth-century hairdressing theory, particularly in William Barker's c. 1780 Treatise on the principles of hair dressing, which drew on Hogarth to reject the ‘deformities’ of French coiffure in favour of a more natural English ideal of beauty.
