Hogarth. What’s with the name??

I’ve been asked this question so many times over the years, I thought I’d write a post dedicated to this most FAQ.

I opened Hogarth in September of 1980 with two of my sisters, Natalie and Lully. Natalie had just graduated from college and Lully from art school. I was living in Boston. We all came home to Epping in May of 1980 when our father was killed in an automobile accident. Our mother had multiple sclerosis along with a 9-year old and a 17-year old. Moving home seemed like a good way for everybody to heal. That was when Natalie, Lully and I renovated the barn attached to the house and opened a kindergarten/preschool. But what to name this school? We wanted to name it for Daddy in some way, since it was his death that brought us to this place in life. It would be a tribute to him.

My father was a trial lawyer, but in his heart he was an artist. He covered his clients’ manila file folders in sketches as he sat in courtrooms over the years trying cases. His sketches and paintings hang in my house to this day. That slate blackboard on the wall in the Hogarth classroom belonged to me and my siblings growing up. We loved when Daddy would cover it with chalk drawings of us kids. Or stick figures doing crazy things like dangling from a giant’s nose. Or stick figure soldiers advancing upon a monstrous something. Daddy’s art was inspired by William Hogarth. He loved Hogarth, whose art provided often-scathing social commentary on mid-18th century British life. This piece from 1736 is entitled Scholars at a Lecture, a lesson in what not-to-do in a preschool classroom.

The modern comic book and political cartoon are rooted in Hogarth’s satirical work. And our name is rooted in Daddy’s love of the artist.

So there you have it. That is why Hogarth is Hogarth. If you’re interested to learn more about my father, who was a very interesting man, you’ll find it here.

Dad, Mom and four of their six kids, including the three women who would go on to found Hogarth.