Mrs Salter
- Artist: William Hogarth
- Date: 1741
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 762 x 635 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is the “Mrs Salter” by William Hogarth, painted in 1741. Hogarth takes the classic portrait bust in an oval and turns it into a study in texture. Thick, broad strokes hammer the folds of the green drapery, giving the canvas a sculptural punch that feels almost three‑dimensional. The white lace ruffles on the bodice lift from the dress like independent ornaments, curving in an ‘S’ that echoes Hogarth’s own idea of a “Line of Beauty and Grace.”
The sitter, Elizabeth Salter of the Charterhouse, was identified only in 1933 when an inscription reading “Mrs Salter” was found on the stone frame. Before that the work was thought to be a portrait of Hogarth’s sister, partly because the sitter’s face resembles the artist’s. Salter was twenty‑one when the portrait was made, before she married Reverend Samuel Salter in 1744.
Hogarth’s palette here relies on colour contrast rather than dramatic light and shade, a deliberate move to show that form can be coaxed from pigment alone. The painting’s lively Rococo influence—bright reds, oranges, and greens—suggests Hogarth was also looking to the French style he’d seen in 1743.
It’s a small canvas, just over 30 by 25 inches, but it packs a vivid, almost theatrical visual punch that still feels fresh today.
See it in person
Mrs Salter is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
