The 'fancy picture' - or 'scene from common life' - was one of the staples of eighteenth-century British art. It was a genre adopted by a succession of British artists, from Hogarth to Reynolds and Gainsborough, and one which allowed artists to exercise their imaginations with light and attractive vignettes of picturesque cottage girls, naughty boys, beggars and the like - a more palatable alternative to the grand subjects of history painting.
This is the first book to be devoted to this rich but often neglected branch of eighteenth-century British art, and brings together some of the most appealing images of the period.
